i n. 


: L\1  IN  AMERICA 


i.  ’VARSHAW 


LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Purchased  by  the  Hamill  Missionary  Fund. 


F 1.4-08 
.W29 


Section. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/newlatinamerica00wars_0 


THE  NEW  LATIN  AMERICA 


BAY  AND  CITY  OF  RIO  DE  JANEIRO  FROM  SUMMIT  OF  CORCOVADO. 


THE 

NEW  LATIN  AMERICA 


J.  WARSHAW,  Ph  D. 


Professor  in  the  V niversity  of  Nebraska;  Corresponding 
Member  of  the  Hispanic  Society  of  America 


With  an  Introduction  by 

JAMES  E.  LeROSSIGNOL,  LL.D. 

Dean  of  the  College  of  Business  Administration, 
University  of  Nebraska 


NEW  YORK 

THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1922, 

By  THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  COMPANY 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


TO  MY  WIFE 


Hazel  .Marie  Warsljabi 

WHOSE  ASSISTANCE  AND  ADVICE 
HAVE  BEEN  INVALUABLE  TO  ME 


INTRODUCTION 


The  average  American  of  these  United  States  who  re- 
members his  geography  may  know  that  America  was 
discovered  by  an  Italian  from  Spain,  that  tobacco  is  grown 
in  Cuba  and  coffee  in  Brazil,  that  the  Amazon  is  the 
largest  river  in  the  world,  that  the  forests  of  those  regions 
are  full  of  tapirs,  jaguars  and  boa  constrictors,  that  the 
condor  of  the  Andes  is  one  of  the  largest  birds,  that 
cattle  abound  on  the  pampas  of  Argentina,  and  that 
revolutions  are  endemic  in  Mexico  and  Central  America; 
but  he  would  have  trouble  in  carrying  on  a conversation 
of  ten  minutes  about  Latin  America,  and  the  writing  of 
a thousand-word  essay  on  the  subject  would  drive  him 
to  despair.  To  such  a person  Dr.  Warshaw’s  admirable 
book  should  come  as  a revelation,  expanding  his  intel- 
lectual horizon,  mitigating  his  provincialism  and  his 
Anglo-Saxon  prejudice,  and  teaching  him  to  recognize 
and  appreciate  the  truly  remarkable  achievements  of 
Latin-American  civilization. 

It  is,  indeed,  surprising  to  find  urban  conditions  in 
Latin  America  so  similar  to  those  of  the  United  States, 
although  in  every  part  of  the  civilized  world  they  seem 
to  be  conforming  to  certain  types.  Buenos  Aires,  for 
example,  is  a great  seaport  comparable  to  any  of  our  own, 
with  the  usual  ships,  wharfs,  railway  terminals,  derricks, 
flying  cranes,  grain  elevators,  packing  plants,  stores,  office 
buildings,  magnificent  streets,  electric  lights,  trolleys,  motor 
cars,  hotels,  banks,  churches,  schools,  hospitals,  art  gal- 
leries, newspapers,  theaters,  movies,  and  all  the  other  con- 
ventional equipment  of  a modern  metropolis.  Even  in  the 
country  districts  one  finds  the  most  approved  agricultural 
and  mining  machinery,  roads,  railways,  bridges,  telegraph 
lines,  irrigation  works,  and  fences,  even,  so  like  our  own 
that  one  wonders  whether  Latin  America  is  being  “Ameri- 
canized” or  whether  the  material  progress  so  characteristic 

vii 


Introduction 


viii 

of  the  United  States  is  but  a phase  of  a far  wider  movement 
going  on  in  every  part  of  the  world. 

The  same  question  arises  as  one  reads  of  the  more  strictly 
cultural  side  of  Latin- American  life : the  magnificent  build- 
ings and  the  noted  scholars  of  many  universities,  the  fine 
Law  School  at  Pernambuco,  Brazil,  the  Agricultural  School 
at  Sayago,  Uruguay,  the  Military  School  at  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
the  Palace  of  Fine  Arts  at  Santiago,  Chile,  the  Coyoacan 
Art  School  of  Mexico  City.  And  then,  of  course,  the  cities 
have  their  leading  merchants,  manufacturers,  physicians, 
lawyers,  educators,  clergymen,  architects,  painters,  musi- 
cians ; nor  are  the  women ’s  club  and  the  feminist  movement 
lacking  to  complete  the  picture  of  up-to-date,  progressive 
civilization  which  is  rapidly  spreading  everywhere  and 
doing  so  much  to  unify  the  world. 

While  thus  pointing  out  the  resemblances  between  Latin- 
American  civilization  and  our  own,  Dr.  Warshaw  by  no 
means  ignores  the  many  points  of  difference  due  to  race, 
history,  geographical  conditions,  economic  resources,  and 
the  savage  background,  which  in  some  of  the  countries 
makes  their  civilization  shine  with  a brilliant  and  almost 
lurid  light.  The  ways  of  the  Latins  are  in  many  respects 
different  from  ours,  but  all  things  considered,  they  have 
achieved  notable  results  in  encroaching  upon  the  primitive 
savagery  and  in  discovering  and  exploiting  the  vast  re- 
sources which  lay  at  their  disposal,  though  frequently  in 
difficult,  if  not  inaccessible  places.  In  this  process  of 
development  the  Latins  have  been  greatly  aided  by  foreign 
capital  and  adventurous  spirits  from  the  British  Isles,  Ger- 
many, Italy  and,  more  recently,  from  the  United  States, 
many  of  whom  have  been  consoled  for  their  self-imposed 
exile  by  rich  material  rewards.  Not  a few  of  these  have 
settled  down  among  their  Latin  friends  and  neighbors,  and 
it  is  interesting  to  find  in  Chile  and  elsewhere  their 
descendants  bearing  such  names  as  Tomas  Le  Breton  and 
Vicuna  Mackenna,  reminding  one  of  the  old  time  soldiers 
of  fortune  of  the  British  Isles  who  used  to  take  part  in 
foreign  wars  and  whose  descendants  are  now  found  in  many 
parts  of  continental  Europe. 


Introduction 


IX 


Of  all  the  foreign  pioneers  of  Latin  America  the  most 
highly  esteemed  have  been  the  British,  because  of  their 
large  investments  and  their  reputation  for  solidarity,  sin- 
cerity, and  other  sterling  qualities.  As  Dr.  Warshaw  well 
says,  “The  word  of  an  Englishman  ( palabra  de  ingles ) 
is  the  gold  standard  of  commercial  honor  throughout  Latin 
America.”  During  the  past  generation  the  Germans  have 
pushed  the  British  hard,  and  they  are  now  recovering  a 
considerable  part  of  the  trade  lost  during  the  war.  Of 
late  years  the  trade  of  the  United  States  with  Latin 
America  has  much  increased  and  is  likely  to  grow  to  large 
proportions  as  larger  investments  are  made  and  our  com- 
mercial representatives  establish  themselves  more  per- 
manently in  the  countries  where  they  do  business.  There 
are  now  about  100  branches  of  American  banks  in  Latin 
America,  of  which  about  42  are  controlled  by  the  National 
City  Bank  of  New  York.  United  States  capital,  too,  has 
been  invested  in  shipping  companies,  the  fruit  business, 
meat  packing,  nitrate  fields,  mining  and  other  lines  of 
development — all  of  which  contribute  to  the  expansion  of 
trade  and  to  friendly  relations  with  our  fellow  Americans. 

Naturally,  Dr.  Warshaw  has  something  to  say  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  the  Panama  Canal,  Pan-Americanism, 
and  other  international  questions,  and  his  comments  on  the 
Latin  point  of  view  should  help  us  to  see  ourselves  as  others 
see  us.  It  will  surprise  many  people  to  learn  that  Latin 
Americans  are  more  or  less  touchy  on  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 
that  they  consider  our  protective  tariff  a serious  handicap  to 
their  foreign  trade,  that  they  resent  our  patronage,  suspect 
us  of  imperialism,  speak  of  the  “Yankee  Peril,”  and,  in 
general,  dispute  our  claim  to  primacy  in  Pan-American 
affairs.  All  this  gives  food  for  thought,  and  suggests  that 
our  merchants,  manufacturers,  investors,  bankers,  ship- 
owners, railway  magnates,  statesmen,  and  the  general  public 
must  become  more  ‘ ‘ internationally  minded  ’ ’ if  they  would 
establish  friendly  and  profitable  relations  with  our  Latin 
neighbors  upon  a firm  and  lasting  basis. 


James  E.  LeRossignol. 


PREFACE 


My  chief  aim  has  been  to  present  a faithful  picture  of 
progressive  Latin  America,  the  Latin  America  of  to-day, 
the  Latin  America  which  is  still  too  generally  unknown. 

Scores  of  books  have  dealt  with  the  history  of  Latin 
America  or  of  the  various  Latin  American  countries,  scores 
of  others  have  summarized  the  impressions  of  travelers, 
many  have  been  compiled  from  commercial  data,  and  a 
few  have  furnished  their  readers  with  chapters  or  apergus 
on  specific  signs  of  social,  political,  and  economic  im-' 
provement:  but  practically  none  has  attempted  to  offer  a 
comprehensive  and  reasoned  account  of  the  onward  moving 
Latin  America  of  the  present  moment.  It  is,  nevertheless, 
the  last -mentioned  Latin  America  which  should  appeal  most 
to  the  general  reader : it  is  that  Latin  America  about  which 
the  general  reader  needs  most  to  be  informed : and  it  is  with 
that  Latin  America  that  the  public  of  the  United  States, 
above  all,  should  become  more  intimately  acquainted. 

The  point  of  view  to  which  I have  tried  to  hold  con- 
sistently has  been  that  Latin  American  discussion  ought 
now  to  be  couched  in  the  tone  in  which  the  discussion  of 
European  or  American  affairs  is  habitually  carried  on. 
The  attitude  of  the  cultured  tourist  observing  strange 
phenomena  in  primitive  lands  is  highly  to  be  deprecated: 
and  the  sooner  it  is  set  aside  in  reports  on  Latin  America, 
the  better. 

Frequently,  and  perhaps  tediously,  throughout  the  book 
comparisons  have  been  made  with  progress  in  the  United 
States  and  with  the  gradual  change  of  opinion  in  Europe, 
and  particularly  in  England,  concerning  the  resources  and 
potentialities  of  the  United  States  and  the  cultural  and 
social  evolution  of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  The 
essential  unity  of  Latin  American  customs,  manners,  and 
morals  with  southern  European  customs,  manners,  and 


XI 


Xll 


Preface 


morals  has  also  been  stressed.  No  doubt  some  of  the  argu- 
ments contain  elements  of  weakness:  and  it  would  be  too 
much  to  hope  that  the  legitimate  comparisons  should  now 
be  accepted  in  toto  or  at  their  full  value.  Yet  I can  see 
no  escape  from  employing  approved  historical  methods  of 
measurement  in  setting  forth  evidences  of  advancement  in 
Latin  America.  What  has  been  applied  successfully  to 
other  countries  should,  it  seems,  be  applicable  to  Latin 
America  also. 

I have,  in  so  far  as  I am  aware,  no  special  propaganda 
to  further  with  regard  to  Latin  America,  though  my  belief 
in  the  desirability  and  necessity  of  inter-American  friend- 
ship has  not,  I trust,  failed  to  show  itself  unmistakably. 
I am  not  anxious,  nevertheless,  to  condone  the  genuine 
faults,  inconsistencies,  or  prejudices  of  the  Latin  American 
nations.  I am  persuaded  that  Latin  Americans  have  the 
same  number  of  merits  and  defects  as  other  peoples : but 
I am  positive,  likewise,  that  they  have  no  more.  On  the 
other  hand,  I am  convinced  that  the  general  public  of  the 
United  States  has  never  sufficiently  recognized  the  worthy 
qualities  and  accomplishments  of  their  Latin  American 
neighbors:  and  I am  sure  that  what  is  well  known  and 
thoroughly  familiar  to  thoughtful  students  of  Latin  Amer- 
ica will  often  appear  surprising  and  almost  incredible  to 
the  casual  reader. 

During  the  preparation  of  the  following  pages,  valuable 
assistance,  which  is  here  gratefully  acknowledged,  was  re- 
ceived from  the  Pan  American  Union,  the  National  City 
Bank  of  New  York  (Our  South  American  Trade  and  Its 
Financing,  by  Frank  O’Malley),  the  Guaranty  Trust  Com- 
pany of  New  York  ( Bank  and  Public  Holidays  Throughout 
the  World),  the  Bankers  Trust  Company,  New  York  ( List 
of  Foreign  Correspondents) , and  Mr.  Harry  Weston  Van 
Dyke,  Washington,  D.  C.,  for  lists  of  banking  institutions 
in  South  America.  The  author  acknowledges  also  his  in- 
debtedness for  material  concerning  Latin  American  news- 
papers to  Dr.  W.  E.  Aughinbaugh ’s  Advertising  for  Trade 
in  Latin- America,  and  to  the  Gotham  Advertising  Company. 

The  trade  statistics  given  in  the  Appendix  are  taken 


Preface 


xm 


from  figures  published  by  the  Pan  American  Union,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  January,  1922.  The  figures  for  Latin  Ameri- 
can trade  given  on  pages  107,  108,  and  109  are  from  an 
article  in  the  South  American,  May,  1921,  based  on  a Latin 
American  trade  circular  issued  by  the  United  States  De- 
partment of  Commerce,  April,  1921.  On  page  308  the 
figures  for  1919  and  1920  are  taken  from  the  Commerce 
Report  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Commerce, 
April  6,  1921. 

I acknowledge  with  pleasure  my  indebtedness  to  Dean 
James  E.  LeRossignol  of  the  College  of  Business  Adminis- 
tration, and  to  Dean  Philo  M.  Buck,  Jr.,  of  the  College  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  of  the  University  of  Nebraska,  for  their 
constant  encouragement  during  the  preparation  of  this 
book. 

J.  W. 

May  20,  1922. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Part  One 
CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 1 

A Comparison  with  the  United  States — Five  Common 
Misconceptions — Sympathetic  Appreciation  of  Latin 
American  Customs  Important — Immense  Size  of  Latin 
America  a Permanent  Reality — Transportation — Im- 
mense Coastlines — Superiority  of  Latin  America  in 
Waterways — Water  Falls  and  Water-Power — Grandeur 
of  Latin  American  Mountain  Scenery — Climate — The 
Negro  Question — The  Indian  Question — Latin  America 
not  Effete — Examples  of  Latin  American  Energy — ■ 

Latin  American  Magnitudes — Possibilities  in  Growth. 

CHAPTER  II 


The  End  op  Isolation 27 

Penetrating  Forces — Shortening  of  Distances  to  Latin 
America — Emergence  from  Isolation — Increase  in  Ship- 
ping— Immigration — Transportation. 

CHAPTER  III 


Changing  Industries 53 

Agriculture  and  Mining — Agricultural  Prodctivity — In- 
tensive Agriculture — Salient  Industries — Cattle-raising 
in  Argentina  and  Uruguay — New  Fields  for  Cattle- 
raising— Brazil  a Coming  Cattle  Center — American 
Packers  in  Brazil — Latin  America’s  Part  in  the  Odyssey 
of  Oil — Coal  in  Latin  America — Lumber. 

CHAPTER  IV 

Manufacturing  and  Labor 81 

Cotton-growing  and  Cotton-manufacturing  in  Brazil — 
Cotton-manufacturing  in  Argentina — Advent  of  the 
Manufacture  of  Rubber  in  Brazil — Future  Manufac- 


xv 


XVI 


Contents 


PAGB 

turing  Centers — Varied  Manufactures  of  Brazil — New 
Manufacturing  Projects  in  Brazil — Varied  Manufac- 
tures of  Mexico — Future  of  Manufacturing  in  Latin 
America — Changing  Conditions  of  Labor — Labor  Legis- 
lation— Protection  of  Children  and  Women  in  the  In- 
dustries— Housing  for  Workingmen — Comparison  with 
the  United  States  in  the  Development  of  Industries. 

CHAPTER  V 

Paramount  Foreign  Interests 107 

National  Mobilization  for  Latin  American  Trade — Cap- 
turing Latin  American  Trade  in  the  Past — British  Con- 
fidence in  Latin  America — Latin  American  Trust  in 
British  Management — The  German  “Drive”  in  Latin 
America  not  Sinister — German  Doctrine  of  “Sendee” — 
Germany  “Coming  Back”  in  Latin  America — Weakness 
of  Former  American  Methods — American  Business- 
men Making  a Gallant  Fight — Disadvantages  of  Ship- 
ping in  the  Vessels  of  Competitors — Rapid  Progress  of 
American  Shipping — American  Banks  in  Latin  America. 

CHAPTER  VI 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 136 

The  North  American  Peril — Latin  American  Notion  of 
the  Transformation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine — Contra- 
dictory Applications  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine — Jus- 
tifiable Policy  of  the  United  States  Toward  the 
Caribbean  Countries — President  Roosevelt’s  Interpreta- 
tion of  the  Monroe  Doctrine — The  Monroe  Doctrine 
and  the  Trans-Caribbean  Countries — Tbe  Monroe  Doc- 
trine in  Reality  a Pan-American  Doctrine — The  Trans- 
Caribbean  Countries  Able  to  Solve  Their  Own  Political 
Problems — Broadening  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

CHAPTER  VII 

International  Rapprochement 158 

Foreign  Antagonism  to  Pan  American  Leadership  of  the 
United  States — Rapprochement  Between  Latin  America 
and  European  Latin  Countries — Rapprochement  Among 
the  Latin  American  Countries  Themselves — Free  Trade 
and  Rapprochement — Political  Confederation — Recent 
Establishment  of  the  Republic  of  Central  America — 
Antecedents. 


Contents 


xv  n 


Part  Two 
CHAPTER  VIII 

PAGE 

The  Growth  of  Nationalism 178 

Separatists  Tendencies— Brazil  as  a Distinct  Nation — 
Historical  Reasons  for  Lack  of  Solidarity  Among  the 
Spanish  Countries  of  Latin  America — Latin  Americans 
not  to  be  Confused  with  European  Spaniards — Chief 
Factors  in  the  Development  of  Individual  National 
Spirit — Latin  American  Dictators  as  Contributors  to 
Patriotism — Modern  Methods  of  Inspiring  Patriotism — 
Regionalistic  Literature  and  Patriotism — The  “Entente” 

Idea  Supplanting  the  Idea  of  Confederation. 

CHAPTER  IX 

Social  Development 204 

Foreign  Influences  on  Latin  American  Social  Usage — 
Physical  Culture  and  Athletics — New  Conception  of 
Sanitation — Social  “Movements” — Prohibition  in  Latin 
America — Housing  and  Prison  Reform— Salvation 
Army,  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  in  Latin 
America — The  Transition  from  Individualism  to  Social 
Regulation. 

CHAPTER  X 

Public  Enlightenment  and  Education  ....  227 

Public  Education  of  Recent  Date — Educational  Zones — 
Educational  Progressiveness  of  Argentina — Changing 
Ideals  in  Chilean  Education — An  Important  Experi- 
ment in  Mexico — Secondary  Education  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica— A Suggestion  Concerning  the  Admission  of  Latin 
American  Students  to  Our  Universities — European 
Characteristics  of  Latin  American  Universities — Devel- 
opment of  Normal  Schools — Technical  and  Vocational 
Education — The  People’s  University  of  Buenos  Aires — 
Libraries,  Newspapers,  and  Motion-Pictures  as  Educa- 
tional Agencies. 

CHAPTER  XI 

Cultural  Development 255 

Comparison  with  the  Progress  of  American  Literature — 
“Schools”  in  Latin  American  Literature — Andres  Bello, 
Scholar  and  Poet — Sarmiento,  the  “Schoolmaster  Presi- 
dent”— Ruben  Dario,  the  Most  Significant  of  Modern 
Spanish  Poets — Latin  American  Painters— Modern  Art 
in  Mexico — Music  and  Drama — Science  and  Scholar- 
ship. 


xviii  Contents 


CHAPTER  XII 

PAGE 

The  Position  of  Woman 279 

Southern  European  Antecedents  of  the  Latin  American 
Women — Effect  of  Example  Set  by  American  Women 
— Legal  Status  of  the  Latin  American  Woman — Or- 
ganized Feminism — Women  Voters  in  Latin  America — 
Different  Means  Employed  by  the  American  and  the 
Latin  American  Woman — Social  Factors  in  the 
Woman’s  Movement  in  Latin  America — The  Education 
of  Woman — Vocational  Education  for  Girls — The  Peru- 
vian Society  of  Feminine  Industry — The  Profession  of 
Teaching  and  the  Dignity  of  Work — Women  and  the 
Eradication  of  Social  Evils — The  Child-Welfare  Work 
of  Latin  American  Women — Greater  Freedom  now  Per- 
mitted Women  in  the  Larger  Cities. 


Part  Three 
CHAPTER  XIII 

The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  . . . 306 

Can  We  Hold  This  Trade? — Remarkable  Expansion  of 
American  Investments  in  Latin  America — Financial  In- 
vestments Accompanied  by  Investment  in  Personnel — 
Americans  Who  Owe  Their  Fortunes  to  Latin  America 
— Recent  Successes  of  Large  American  Industrial  Con- 
cerns in  Latin  America — Outstanding  Opportunities  for 
Men  with  Some  Capital — European  Department  Stores 
in  Latin  America — Immigrants  who  Built  up  Fortunes 
in  Latin  America — Splendid  Agricultural  Opportunities 
for  the  “Average  Man” — Colonization  Conditions — 
Beneficial  International  Results  of  Colonization. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 333 

Why  We  Are  “The  Americans” — The  European  Legacy 
of  Depreciation — A New  Political  View  of  the  United 
States — American  “Kultur” — Latin  American  Judgment 
of  our  Newspapers — Our  Metropolitan  Cities  not  a 
Fair  Standard  for  American  Life  as  a Whole — Dif- 
ference Between  American  and  Latin  American  Intel- 
lectual Perspective — Mistaken  Latin  American  Criticism 


Contents 


xix 


PAGE 

Due  to  Insufficient  Knowledge — Difference  in  the 
Genius  of  American  and  Latin  American  Journalism — 
Susceptibility  of  Latin  Americans  to  Acts  of  Courtesy 
— Customs  and  Manners  Distasteful  to  Latin  Ameri- 
cans and  Europeans — Seriousness  of  Our  Ignorance  of 
Latin  America — A Defect  in  Our  Educational  System. 

Appendix 359 

Useful  Information — Postal  Information — Distances  to 
Principal  Ports — Credit  Conditions — Branches  of  Amer- 
ican Banks — Principal  Banks. 

Bibliography  of  Recent  Books 399 

Index 403 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Bay  and  City  op  Rio  de  Janeiro  from  Summit  op 

Corcovado Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Botafogo  Bay,  Harbor  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  ....  12 

“The  Soldier’s  Leap” — Gorge  in  the  Andes,  Across 
which  One  of  O’Higgins’s  Cavalry  Leaped  His 

Horse  to  Escape  the  Royalists 16 

Avenue  of  Royal  Palms,  Rio  Botanical  Gardens  . . 24 

Avenida  Central,  Rio  de  Janeiro 24 

A Coffee  Plantation,  Venezuela — Drying  the  Bean  . 53 

Prize  Winners  from  “The  Camp  ” (Argentina)  . . 58 

Coffee  Plantation,  Brazil 90 

Plaza  Mayor,  Lima 104 

Scene  on  the  Oroya  Railway  (Peru)  ....  115 

Statue  of  Bolivar,  Lima 170 

Iguazu  Falls,  where  Brazil,  Paraguay,  and  Argentina 

Meet 194 

Jockey  Club’s  Grandstand  at  the  Race  Track  (Buenos 

Aires) 210 

Solis  Theater,  Montevideo 256 

Cagancha  Plaza,  Montevideo 256 

Col6n  Theater,  Buenos  Aires 278 

Federal  Capitol,  Buenos  Aires 278 

Shrine  of  Our  Lady  of  Capacabana,  on  Bolivian  Shore 

of  Lake  Titicaca 329 

Town  and  Mountain  of  Potosi,  Bolivia  ....  329 

MAPS 

South  America 358 

Central  America 374 

Communications  and  Commercial  Languages  of  America  384 

Mexico 398 


xxi 


The  New  Latin  America 


PART  1 
CHAPTER  I 

FALLACIES,  FANCIES,  AND  FACTS 

The  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  is  witnessing 
something  like  a cosmopolitan  attempt  at  a second  con- 
quest of  Latin  America.  Foreign,  governments  and  indi- 
viduals appear  to  be  engaged  in  keen  rivalry  for  the 
favors  of  the  vast  “backward”  countries  of  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  America  possessed  of  incalculable  natural 
wealth  and  characterized  by  a genuinely  extraordinary 
purchasing  power.  Official  and  unofficial  overtures  look- 
ing toward  increased  commercial  and  cultural  relations 
are  being  made  with  courteous  and  flattering  insistence. 

In  recent  years,  and  particularly  during  the  past  six 
or  eight  years,  the  visits  of  “ambassadors  of  good-will” 
to  Latin  America  have  followed  one  another  in  rapid 
succession.  Secretary  Root,  Secretary  Knox,  Secretary 
Colby,  Senator  Burton,  Robert  Bacon,  ex-president 
Roosevelt,  Viscount  Bryce,  M.  Clemenceau,  General 
Mangin,  ex-minister  Andrea  Torre  of  Italy,  Paul  Fort, 
the  French  poet,  a Spanish  infanta,  and  numerous  British, 
French,  Italian,  German,  Belgian,  Japanese,  and  American 
missions  have  journeyed  to  various  Latin  American  coun- 
tries in  a more  than  personal  capacity,  and  the  King  of 
Spain  is  expected  in  South  America  as  soon  as  internal 
affairs  in  the  Peninsula  permit  his  projected  tour. 


2 


Fallacies , Fancies , emtf  Facts 


The  twentieth  century  conquest,  as  contrasted  with  that 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  is  one  of  peace  and  friendship. 
No  kidnapping  of  Aztec  or  Inca  emperors,  no  enslavement 
of  superstitious  Indians,  no  seizure  of  territories  is  con- 
templated. Nations  whose  good-will  must  be  won  by 
complex  pacific  means  have  grown  up  in  the  former  free 
and  easy  paradise  of  the  Conquistadores. 

European  governments  have  for  some  scores  of  years 
realized  that  Latin  America  has  undergone  a remarkable 
change  in  the  course  of  four  centuries.  To  the  average 
American,  however,  Latin  America  has  remained  terra 
incognita.  Even  our  leaders  in  thought  and  politics  have 
not  until  lately  grasped  the  significance  of  Latin  America, 
and  not  then  in  any  adequate  manner  until  convinced  by 
ocular  demonstration. 

“I  believe,”  declared  Theodore  Roosevelt  in  1914,  while 
on  his  South  American  expedition,  “that  the  present 
century  is  the  century  of  South  America.” 

Eight  years  before,  Mr.  Root,  habitually  less  emphatic, 
but  not  less  foresighted,  had  expressed  the  same  idea. 

At  a banquet  that  was  given  last  winter  to  a great  and  dis- 
tinguished man,  Lord  Grey,  Governor-General  of  Canada,  he 
said:  “The  nineteenth  century  was  the  century  of  the  United 
States;  the  twentieth  century  will  be  the  century  of  Canada.”  I 
should  feel  surer  as  a prophet  if  I were  to  say:  “The  twentieth 
century  will  be  the  century  of  South  America.”  I believe,  with 
him,  in  the  great  development  of  Canada;  but  just  as  the  nine- 
teenth century  was  the  century  of  phenomenal  development  in 
North  America,  I believe  that  no  student  can  help  seeing  that 
the  twentieth  century  will  be  the  century  of  phenomenal  develop- 
ment in  South  America. 

The  man  whose  reading  on  Latin  America  stopped  with 
his  schoolboy  days  has  probably  not  the  faintest  inkling 
of  the  role  now  being  played  by  Latin  America  in  the 
world  at  large.  The  Latin  American  republics  have, 
within  a brief  space,  “completely  marched  off  the  map,” 
in  the  words  of  Mr.  Root,  just  as  the  German  armies  had 
marched  off  the  newly  revised  German  maps  a fortnight 
after  the  outbreak  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War. 

The  Latin  America  of  our  school  geographies  was  a 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 


3 


vast  primitive  tract  overrun  by  jaguars,  boa  constrictors, 
tapirs,  llamas,  monkeys,  parrots,  and  condors,  and 
sparsely  inhabited  by  picturesque  gauclnos,  stolid  Indians, 
and  indolent  peons.  That  this  Latin  America  has,  of 
course,  not  entirely  ceased  to  exist,  goes  without  saying. 
Scatter  some  80,000,000  people  over  a territory  of  about 
8,000,000  square  miles,  and  the  difficulty  of  taming  this 
enormous  area  to  civilized  uses  becomes  clear. 

But  the  primeval  wilds  of  the  Latin  America  of  to-day 
are  not  the  primeval  wilds  of  our  schoolboy  geographies. 
Their  conquest  has  moved  on  much  more  rapidly  during 
the  past  forty  years  or  less  than  during  the  preceding 
four  centuries.  Industrial  needs,  railroads,  and  highways 
have  not  merely  been  nibbling  at  them : they  have  been 
devouring  them. 

A COMPARISON  WITH  THE  UNITED  STATES 

In  order  to  realize  how  this  may  be,  we  must  set  our- 
selves back  in  our  own  history  to  about  the  year  1880.  In 
1880  our  population  was  50,155,783  and  the  number  of 
miles  of  railroad  operated  was  93,267.  To-day  our  popu- 
lation is  106,389,246  and  our  railroad  mileage  totals  264,- 
233  miles.  In  1880  our  exports  amounted  to  $835,638,658 
and  our  imports,  to  $667,954,746.  To-day  our  exports 
and  imports  have  reached  the  colossal  figures  of  $8,111,- 
039,733  and  $5,238,621,668  respectively.  These  changes 
have  taken  place  during  the  past  forty  years. 

Now,  approximately  forty  years — to  be  exact,  forty- 
three  years — marks  the  lead  which  we  have  had  over 
Latin  America  in  free  self-development,  unshackled  by 
the  repressive  fetters  of  a monarchical  government.  The 
decisive  battle  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  that  of  York- 
town,  took  place  in  1781.  Reckoning  from  that  date,  we 
were  ninety-nine  years  old  in  independence  in  1880.  The 
decisive  battle  for  Latin  American  independence  was 
fought  at  Ayacucho,  Peru,  in  1824.  To-day,  in  1921,  Latin 
America  is  ninety-seven  years  old  in  independence.  At 
ninety-nine,  we  had  attained  the  expansion  detailed  above 
for  the  year  1880.  At  ninety-seven,  Latin  America  has  a 


4 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 


population  of  approximately  80,000,000  and  a foreign  com- 
merce of  more  than  $5,000,000,000. 

Considering  the  resources  of  Latin  America  and  such 
conditions  as  the  restriction  of  immigration  into  the 
United  States,  the  focusing  of  the  attention  of  all  the 
great  nations  on  Latin  American  exploitation,  and  the 
fact  that  we  are  in  the  full  swing  of  the  technological 
era,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  in  forty  more  years,  when 
Latin  America  shall  have  reached  our  present  age,  her 
development  will  have  assumed  something  of  the  huge 
proportions  on  which  we  are  accustomed  to  pride  our- 
selves. Looking  forward  the  remaining  eighty  years  of 
the  present  century,  the  prospect  seems  even  more  impres- 
sive, and  Messrs.  Roosevelt  and  Root  appear  moderate 
historians  rather  than  prophetic  visionaries. 

Comparisons  and  conclusions  of  this  sort  may  sound 
bold  and  unwarranted  to  readers  to  whom  Latin  America 
is  still  an  unknown  land.  The  comparisons,  however,  are 
based  on  facts,  and  the  conclusions  do  not  conflict  with 
the  logic  of  past  history.  To  those  who  watch  the  on- 
ward steps,  which  are  commonplace  and  almost  imper- 
ceptible as  they  occur  from  day  to  day,  but  imposing 
in  the  aggregate,  the  predictions  made  by  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  Viscount  Bryce,  and  General  Rafael  Reyes  con- 
cerning the  future  of  Latin  America  seem  quite  devoid 
of  extravagance.  Let  any  man  of  forty  odd  years  of 
age  hark  back  to  1880,  when  our  population  was  fifty 
million  and  our  foreign  trade  a billion  and  a half  dollars 
and  honestly  ask  himself  if  he  expected  to  see  our  popu- 
lation mount  to  over  100,000,000  and  our  foreign  com- 
merce to  over  $13,000,000,000  by  the  time  he  had  barely 
reached  middle  age! 

Statistics,  while  invaluable,  rarely  tell  the  whole  story. 
They  are  not  sufficiently  descriptive.  Were  Latin  America 
only  as  large  as  the  United  States,  its  expansion,  though 
remarkable,  would  present  to-day  but  an  ordinary  appeal 
to  the  imagination.  Discounting  the  Chilean  and 
Peruvian  deserts  and  the  considerable  extent  of  moun- 
tain-land over  the  entire  length  of  South  America,  which 


Fallacies , Fancies , and  Facts 


5 


is  practically  unsuitable  for  human  habitation,  we  should 
be  able  to  augur  nothing  startling  for  the  future  of  Latin 
America.  We  should  feel  that  it  could  do  no  more  than 
progress  at  an  average  rate.  As  soon,  however,  as  we 
visualize  .its  immense  size  and  take  into  account  a few 
of  its  natural  resources  and  wonders  and  a small  number 
of  the  achievements  of  its  people,  we  are  apt  to  be  ready 
to  admit  its  potentialities  and  to  marvel  that  anybody 
should  doubt  them. 

“Nine  days  we  were  sailing  along  the  Brazilian  coast 
line!”  exclaimed  Secretary  Colby  at  a banquet  in  New 
York  in  1921.  “Think  of  what  that  means!”  (The  trip 
had  been  made  in  a great  American  battleship.)  This 
fact  had  astounded  Secretary  Colby  as  much  as  the  dis- 
covery that  Brazil  is  200,000  square  miles  greater  in 
extent  than  the  forty-eight  states  of  the  Union — a cir- 
cumstance of  which  he  had  been  “in  blissful  ignorance” 
until  very  recently.  If  a Secretary  of  State  may  ex- 
perience such  surprises,  what  must  be  the  case  of  the 
general  public,  whose  business  does  not  force  it  to  know 
a great  deal  about  foreign  countries? 

If  through  nothing  else,  Latin  America  should  awaken 
strong  admiration  in  us  by  reason  of  its  magnificent 
natural  magnitudes,  for  we  are  more  susceptible  to  the 
charm  of  magnitudes  than  any  other  nation  on  earth. 
Once  the  American  people  becomes  convinced  that  Latin 
America  rivals  the  United  States  in  many  natural  re- 
sources and  in  many  works  achieved  by  the  hand  and 
the  brain  of  Latin  Americans,  its  prevalent  belief  in  the 
inferiority  of  Latin  America  will  undergo  a significant 
and  needed  alteration. 

FIVE  COMMON  MISCONCEPTIONS 

Unfortunately  for  Latin  America,  our  appreciation  is 
almost  indelibly  colored  by  traditional  notions  of  its  in- 
feriority. Ignorance  plays  a prominent  part  in  these 
notions,  but  several  unjustifiable  misconceptions  are 
mainly  responsible  for  them. 

1.  To-day  we  look  upon  Spain  as  a decadent  nation — 


6 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  cmd  Facts 


a thoroughly  erroneous  view.  Because  the  fortunes  of 
Latin  America  were  so  long  linked  with  those  of  Spain, 
and  because  our  war  with  Spain  made  the  once  famous 
empire  of  Philip  II  seem  ridiculous  and  insignificant,  we 
assume  that  nothing  good  can  come  out  of  Hispanic 
countries. 

2.  Mexicans,  Porto  Ricans,  Bolivians,  Brazilians,  Argen- 
tinians are  lumped  together  by  us  indiscriminately  as 
“natives.”  The  use  of  the  term  “native”  is  alone 
responsible  for  a strong  sense  of  superiority  on  our  part. 
To  say  “native”  is  to  classify  Latin  Americans  with 
untutored  African  savages.  “Natives”  there  are  in  Latin 
America : but  they  are  in  the  negligible  minority  and 
do  not  represent  Latin  America  any  more  than  our  few 
“native”  Indians  represent  us. 

3.  Moral  conditions  are  unduly  stressed  by  many 
authors,  some  of  whom  are  or  have  been  missionaries. 
But  Latin  America  is  not  a sink  of  iniquity — unless  we 
so  regard  France,  Spain,  Italy,  and  Portugal,  from  whom 
the  Latin  Americans  derive  their  conception  of  morality. 
Latin  American  morals  are  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
European  Latin  morals,  and  European  Latins  like  M. 
Clemenceau  have  no  comment  to  make  on  them. 

4.  To  the  lay  mind,  Latin  America  is  unsafe  because 
of  its  revolutions.  Yet  its  revolutions  are  in  no  way  com- 
parable with  our  Revolutionary  War  or  our  War  of  Seces- 
sion. In  most  instances  they  have  been  simply  the  clash- 
ing of  two  leaders  with  a handful  of  followers,  and  have 
been  no  more  destructive  than  our  railroad  or  automobile 
accidents.  “No  Viceroy  of  Brazil,  no  King  and  no  Presi- 
dent,” is  the  pertinent  comment  of  Miss  Lilian  E.  Elliott 
in  Brazil  Today  and  Tomorrow,  “has  been  assassinated 
in  the  history  of  the  country.”  The  once  popular  method 
of  electing  by  bullets  rather  than  by  ballots  is  now  an 
anachronism  and  is  sure  to  disappear  totally  as  outside 
pressure  increases  through  investments,  immigration,  and 
international  relations. 

5.  The  north,  the  south,  the  east,  and  the  west  of  Latin 
America  are  as  yet  all  one  to  us.  We  refuse  to  acknowl- 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 


7 


edge  differentiation.  Nevertheless,  the  Mexican  is  no  more 
like  the  inhabitant  of  Santo  Domingo  than  the  latter  is 
like  the  Argentinian,  thousands  of  miles  away  in  the  south 
temperate  zone.  The  dominant  racial  traits  of  the  con- 
quering Spaniards  persist,  it  is  true,  practically  intact  and 
lend  a real  social  unity  to  Spanish  America,  but  immigra- 
tion and  a variable  rate  of  progress  have  brought  about 
marked  differences  in  the  several  republics,  and  it  is  be- 
coming increasingly  necessary  to  speak  of  Argentinians, 
Uruguayans,  Peruvians,  Colombians,  Costa  Eicans  rather 
than  of  Latin  Americans  en  masse. 

SYMPATHETIC  APPRECIATION  OF  LATIN  AMERICAN 
CUSTOMS  IMPORTANT 

Probably  the  most  important  factor  in  our  intercourse 
with  Latin  America  will  be  the  willingness  to  accept  Latin 
American  customs,  manners,  and  morals  as  equivalent  to 
our  own.  That  we  can  do  so  in  a hurry  or  with  any  degree 
of  sincerity  is,  perhaps,  too  much  to  expect.  Only  an 
infinitesimal  fraction  of  our  population  will  ever  come  in 
direct  contact  with  Latin  Americans  until  we  emigrate 
in  large  numbers  to  the  Latin  American  republics  or  Latin 
Americans  flock  to  our  shores — either  of  which  alternatives 
is  remote,  though  the  second  more  so  than  the  first.  Most 
of  us  are  stay-at-homes;  our  ethical  dogmas  are  fixed  and 
uncompromising;  and  Anatole  France’s  observation  to  the 
effect  that  souls  are  impenetrable  to  one  another  applies 
to  us  with  peculiar  appropriateness.  Unless  travelers, 
books,  and  newspapers  make  a practice  of  treating  Latin 
American  customs  fairly  and  sympathetically,  and  not  with 
Pharisaical  sneering,  we  shall  be  as  great  strangers  to 
Latin  America  at  the  end  of  the  century,  no  matter  how 
much  business  we  may  do  with  it,  as  we  are  now. 

The  role  of  moral  censor  is  at  best  a precarious  task, 
especially  among  peoples  whose  religion,  civilization,  and 
traditions  are  older  than  our  own.  There  has  been  no 
conspicuous  American  attempt  at  reforming  French  habits, 
except  in  the  substitution  of  the  American  bar  for  the 
French  bar,  and  it  cannot  be  repeated  often  enough  that 


8 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 


Latin  American  and  French  or  Italian  or  Spanish  customs 
and  manners  are  one  and  the  same  thing.  The  usual 
American  chapter  on  Latin  American  morals  is  a distinct 
evil  and  an  encouragement  to  unfriendliness.  Our  books 
and  periodicals  are  read  and  reviewed  in  Latin  America, 
and  no  subject  gives  so  much  steady  offense  as  our  super- 
ficial obiter  dicta  on  morals  and  manners. 

In  general,  in  our  present  state  of  knowledge  concern- 
ing Latin  America,  we  shall  not  greatly  err  in  stressing 
the  progress  of  to-day  rather  than  the  stagnation  of 
yesterday,  excellences  rather  than  defects,  hopeful  rather 
than  hopeless  signs.  However  much  this  may  smack  of 
shoddy — and  much  shoddy  has  been  written  about  Latin 
America — it  is  the  only  profitable  and  gracious  direction 
to  take  for  the  time  being.  With  fuller  knowledge  may 
come  deeper  appreciation,  and  with  appreciation,  only 
useful  criticism. 

Rare  indeed  [as  Mr.  A.  H.  Verrill  suggests],  is  the  North 
American  who  adapts  himself  to  Latin-American  conditions  in 
such  a way  as  to  retain  his  self-respect  and  the  respect  of  the 
natives;  but  when  we  do  find  such  men  we  find  no  contempt 
for  the  Latin  Americans,  no  patronizing  or  overbearing  manners, 
no  complaints,  but  instead,  praise  of  many  things,  criticism  of 
few,  and  an  ever-increasing  love  of  Latin  America  and  its  people. 

Leaving  preconceptions  aside,  it  is  well  to  examine  in 
an  impartial  manner  some  of  the  outstanding  natural  and 
social  features  of  Latin  America. 

IMMENSE  SIZE  OP  LATIN  AMERICA  A PERMANENT  REALITY 

The  most  prominent  and  permanent  feature  of  Latin 
America  is  its  immense  size.  Without  an  adequate  com- 
prehension of  the  extent  of  territory  covered  by  the 
various  republics,  it  is  impossible  to  surmise  their  capacity 
in  agriculture,  industry,  and  population.  Too  often  the 
mistake  is  made  of  picturing  these  countries  as  states,  in 
the  North  American  sense  of  the  term.  We  are  more  than 
liable,  for  instance,  when  thinking  of  Brazil,  to  lay  it 
over  our  mental  image  of  Texas;  when  visualizing  Chile, 
to  put  it  in  juxtaposition  with  California;  when  looking 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 


9 


at  Uruguay,  to  compare  it  with  Rhode  Island:  and  that, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  Texas  is  our  largest  state  and 
Brazil,  the  largest  country  in  South  America;  California 
our  longest  state  on  the  west  coast,  and  Chile  the  longest 
country  on  the  west  coast  of  South  America;  Rhode 
Island  our  smallest  state,  and  Uruguay  the  smallest 
country  in  South  America. 

This  order  of  visualization  is  easy  to  understand  and 
most  difficult  to  combat.  It  will  take  years,  perhaps 
scores  of  them,  to  rectify  the  faulty  conception  which  we 
have  of  the  magnitude  of  the  Latin  American  republics. 
Since  we  cannot  speak  of  empires — a term  which  denotes 
great  size  and  actually  distinguished  Brazil  in  dimensions 
from  the  other  Latin  American  republics — we  ought  at 
least  to  popularize  the  use  of  the  word  “country”  as  a 
generic  term  for  the  Latin  American  republics  instead 
of  the  word  “republic.”  A republic  may  be  as  diminutive 
as  San  Marino  or  Andorra,  whereas  a “country”  stands 
for  something  considerable.  Very  few  of  the  Latin 
American  countries  correspond  in  size  to  our  states.  They 
are  in  most  cases  vastly  larger.  They  are  “countries.” 

Brazil,  as  is  quite  generally  known,  is  larger  than  the 
whole  United  States  exclusive  of  Alaska.  It  could  con- 
tain within  its  boundaries  not  only  all  the  forty-eight 
states  of  the  Union,  but  in  addition  another  state  of  the 
size  of  Texas  or  four  more  states  of  the  size  of  New  York. 
In  other  words,  Brazil  has  an  area  200,000  square  miles 
greater  than  that  of  the  entire  United  States  proper  and 
very  little  less  than  that  of  all  Europe.  If  it  were  as 
densely  populated  as  France,  it  would  shelter  622,000,000 
people,  and,  if  as  densely  populated  as  Germany,  955,- 
000,000,  according  to  estimates  which  have  been  made. 
Chile,  which  appears  so  narrow,  and  therefore  small,  on 
the  map,  would  hold  two  states  of  the  size  of  California 
or  four  states  of  the  size  of  Nebraska,  and  is  actually 
larger  than  any  country  in  Europe  except  Russia.  Mexico 
would  have  no  trouble  in  covering  Wisconsin,  Nebraska, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Minnesota,  Missouri,  Michigan, 
Kansas,  Iowa,  Vermont,  Connecticut,  North  Dakota,  and 


10 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 


South  Dakota,  or  fourteen  of  the  by  no  means  smallest 
of  our  states.  Even  “little”  Costa  Rica  would  have  room, 
and  to  spare,  for  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  Connecti- 
cut, and  Paraguay  could  encompass  Indiana  four  times 
over.  Portugal  would  rattle  around  freely  in  Honduras, 
and  Belgium  expanded  to  three  times  its  size  would  still 
fall  short  of  coinciding  with  all  the  edges  of  that  Central 
American  country;  Colombia  could  embrace  Germany, 
France,  Holland,  and  Belgium  together ; and  countries  of 
the  combined  areas  of  France,  Italy,  the  United  Kingdom, 
Spain,  Belgium,  Germany,  Norway,  and  Sweden  could  be 
carved  out  of  Argentina,  with  just  about  enough  left 
over  to  fit  Connecticut  and  Delaware  nicely  into  the  re- 
maining space. 

The  other  countries  of  Latin  America  being  propor- 
tionately extensive  and  for  the  most  part  inhabitable, 
there  is  not  the  slightest  exaggeration  in  foreseeing  that, 
in  the  course  of  a few  centuries,  the  Hispanic  New  World 
will  be  contemplating  its  northern  brother,  the  United 
States,  from  a great  height — provided,  of  course,  that  tre- 
mendous changes  do  not  occur  in  the  meantime. 

According  to  Mulhall,  the  population  of  Europe  hardly 
exceeded  50,000,000  before  the  fifteenth  century.  It  is 
now  over  460,000,000.  The  population  of  Latin  America 
to-day  is  about  80,000,000.  The  area  of  Latin  America 
(over  8,000,000  square  miles)  is  considerably  more  than 
twice  that  of  Europe  (3,754,282  square  miles)  and  larger 
than  the  area  occupied  by  any  other  homogeneous  group 
of  peoples  in  the  world.  A forward-looking  nation  like 
ours  cannot  fail  to  see  the  plain  moral  and  the  obvious 
duty.  Latin  America  is  sure  to  grow  on  us  and  cannot, 
without  regrettable  results,  be  overlooked. 

Size,  by  itself,  it  goes  without  saying,  is  relatively  unim- 
portant unless  helped  out  by  other  conditions  favorable 
to  human  welfare.  Arid  deserts  and  unproductive  moun- 
tains stretching  for  millions  of  miles  would  signify  little 
for  the  progress  of  mankind  in  the  present  state  of  our 
needs  and  our  ability  to  use  what  Nature  has  placed  at 
our  disposal.  Latin  America  certainly  has  its  share  of 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 


11 


such  lands,  but  is  remarkably  fortunate  in  that  its  per- 
centage of  useless  territory  is  comparatively  small. 

Deserts  it  has,  totally  bereft  of  vegetation,  but  from 
these  deserts  come  the  nitrates  which  have  fertilized  and 
fructified  large  portions  of  the  globe.  From  its  moun- 
tains have  been  extracted  untold  riches,  and  mines  like 
that  of  Potosi  in  Bolivia,  from  which  between  2,000,- 
000,000  and  3,000,000,000  ounces  of  silver  have  been  taken, 
continue  to  supply  much  of  the  output  of  the  precious 
metals  of  the  world.  Mexico  still  leads  in  the  production 
of  silver,  and  Peru,  in  that  of  vanadium.  Bolivia  is  one 
of  the  chief  sources  of  tin;  Chile,  of  copper;  and  Brazil, 
of  the  precious  stones.  According  to  a recent  govern- 
ment report,  the  iron  deposits  of  Brazil  are  estimated  at 
4,000,000,000  tons,  and  what  other  mineral  wealth  lies 
unexploited  and  even  unexplored  in  the  mountains  of 
Brazil  for  want  of  transportation  facilities  nobody  can 
even  guess  at  as  yet. 

TRANSPORTATION 

The  question  of  transportation  is  so  vital  in  un- 
developed countries  housing  large  stores  of  natural 
resources  that  it  may  be  regarded  as  the  key  to  Latin 
American  progress.  Without  adequate  transportation, 
raw  materials  remain  at  their  source  and  commerce  fails 
to  move  with  the  necessary  freedom  and  volume.  For 
the  next  fifty  or  one  hundred  years,  Latin  America  will 
find  its  strength  heavily  taxed  to  provide  sufficient  rail- 
road, highway,  and  water  facilities  for  the  transportation 
of  the  immense  supplies  which  it  will  be  called  upon  to 
furnish  to  an  overpopulated  world  leaning  on  it  more 
and  more  for  the  necessities  of  life.  Its  railroads  and 
highways  must  be  made,  and  their  extension  will  unques- 
tionably rest  chiefly  on  the  investment  of  foreign  capital 
and  on  the  further  discovery  and  working  of  coal  and 
oil,  the  former  of  which,  though  not  now  known  to  exist 
in  excessive  quantities,  is  nevertheless  mined  on  a pay- 
ing basis  in  a number  of  countries  between  Mexico  and 
Chile,  and  the  latter  of  which  already  shows  dazzling 
prospects.  Its  waterways  present  less  numerous  prob- 


12 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 


lems,  for  Nature  has  distributed  them  over  all  parts  of 
Latin  America  in  admirable  profusion.  The  possibilities 
for  coastwise  and  river  trade  are  scarcely  surpassed  else- 
where. 

EXTENSIVE  COASTLINES 

The  length  of  the  coastlines  of  the  Latin  American  coun- 
tries is  usually  not  grasped  by  Americans  because  of  the 
almost  universal  tendency  to  measure  by  our  own  country. 
Probably  few  persons  realize  that  Mexico  has  nearly  six 
thousand  miles  of  coast — about  4200  on  the  Pacific  and 
1600  on  the  Atlantic.  Brazil  alone  has  five  thousand 
miles  of  coast.  Laid  across  the  Atlantic,  this  coastline 
would  extend  from  Boston  to  Liverpool,  and  superimposed 
on  the  margin  of  North  America,  it  would  stretch  from 
New  Orleans  to  the  northern  extremity  of  Labrador.  The 
influence  of  this  coastline,  facing  Europe,  on  the  same 
side  of  the  hemisphere  as  the  majority  of  our  cities  which 
ship  manufactures  and  require  huge  amounts  of  raw 
materials,  and  possessed  of  the  finest  harbor  in  the  world 
at  Rio  de  Janeiro,  cannot  be  overdrawn  with  respect  to 
maritime  trade  and  naval  growth.  Argentina,  likewise, 
favored  by  a coastline  of  surprising  length  which,  if 
moved  north,  would  have  its  termini  at  Key  West,  Florida, 
and  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia,  enjoys  equal  advantages  with 
Brazil  and  has  become  the  objective  of  most  of  the  steam- 
ship lines  of  the  world.  Even  Chile  has  a coastline  about 
three  thousand  miles  long  and  feels  that  its  position  is 
forcing  it  into  paths  of  maritime  prowess  and  expansion. 

In  its  external  means  of  communication  by  Avater,  Latin 
America  is,  indeed,  favored  above  other  geographical 
divisions.  Each  nation  except  Bolivia  has  an  ample  sea- 
board; the  Caribbean  Sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  con- 
stitute a veritable  American  Mediterranean,  open  to  com- 
merce at  all  seasons  of  the  year;  and  the  Panama  Canal 
facilitates  traffic  from  all  corners  of  the  globe  to  either 
side  of  the  North  American  and  South  American  republics 
and  from  the  Orient  to  the  Antilles.  Thus  far  the  settle- 
ment and  the  social  history  of  Latin  America  have  been 
determined  principally  by  these  maritime  factors.  Its 


Copyright , 1911,  by  W.  D.  Boyce. 


BOTAFOGO  Qfi 

Photograph  used  by  courtesy 


DE  JANEIRO. 


d the  Pan  American  Union. 


Fallacies.  Fancies , and  Facts 


13 


future  development,  too,  will  depend  largely  on  these 
natural  advantages. 

SUPERIORITY  OP  LATIN  AMERICA  IN  WATERWAYS 

For  purposes  of  internal  commerce,  Latin  America  is 
extraordinarily  well  equipped  with  navigable  rivers.  It 
has  also  some  navigable  lakes  of  importance.  Lake 
Titicaca,  the  most  elevated  inland  body  of  water  in  the 
world,  with  an  area  of  3220  square  miles,  is  traversed 
by  numerous  steamships  which  traffic  with  the  many 
towns  and  villages  of  the  fertile  country  lying  along  its 
shores;  Lake  Chapala,  in  Mexico,  between  the  States  of 
Jalisco  and  Michoacan,  is  51  miles  long  and  18  miles  wide, 
and  has  become  a fashionable  summer  resort ; and  south- 
ern Chile  is  favored  with  a beautiful  lake  region,  includ- 
ing Lake  Llanquihue — which  has  an  area  of  about  660 
square  miles — comparable  for  picturesqueness  and  climate 
with  the  lake  regions  of  England  and  Switzerland.  How- 
ever, Latin  America  has  no  inland  bodies'  of  water  of 
the  significance  of  our  Great  Lakes. 

But  in  fluvial  waterways  Latin  America  stands  pre- 
eminent. The  Amazon,  the  Rio  de  la  Plata,  the  Orinoco, 
and  the  Magdalena  form  a system  so  extensive  that  one 
can  go  by  boat  nearly  the  whole  length  of  South  America 
with  practically  no  portage.  Many  of  these  arteries 
amount  to  extensions  of  the  ocean  into  the  heart  of  the 
interior  countries  and  spread  out  in  all  directions  in  a 
vast  network  of  infinite  ramifications. 

The  Magdalena,  the  Cauca,  the  Meta,  and  the  Putumayo 
of  Colombia — the  last-mentioned  of  wrhich  has  a length 
of  932  miles,  flows  through  a rich  region  of  gold,  cacao, 
and  rubber,  serves  as  a means  of  communication  with 
Brazil,  and  was  only  within  recent  times  opened  up 
through  the  explorations  of  General  Rafael  Reyes — are 
vast  rivers  crossing  the  entire  country  and  joined  by 
innumerable  tributaries. 

The  river-system  of  Brazil  as  pointed  out  by  Mr. 
Domville-Fife, 

is  truly  magnificent,  the  great  Amazon  alone  affording  3,000  miles 


14 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 


of  fluvial  navigation,  and  having  three  tributaries  of  over  600 
miles  in  length  and  fourteen  others,  some  of  which  are  navigable 
for  river  steamers  for  a distance  of  over  1,000  miles.  . . . Besides 
the  great  network  of  water-ways  known  as  the  Amazon,  Brazil 
possesses  thirty-two  rivers  of  minor  importance,  which  flow 
through  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  afford  means  of  communica- 
tion with  the  surrounding  foreign  States. 

The  total  length  of  the  Amazon  is  more  than  3800  miles, 
and  some  notion  of  its  volume  and  force  may  be  gathered 
from  the  fact  that  its  waters  color  the  Atlantic  for  a 
distance  of  over  100  miles  and  freshen  the  salt  water  of 
the  ocean  to  a point  180  miles  beyond  its  mouth.  The 
Rio  Theodoro,  named  after  Theodore  Roosevelt — the 
famous  River  of  Doubt — is  no  inconsiderable  stream, 
either,  for  it  courses  over  a space  of  950  miles. 

Excepting  for  the  Missouri-Mississippi,  our  rivers  are 
small  and  few  when  contrasted  with  the  wealth  of  usable 
waterways  in  South  America. 

Besides  the  Parana  and  the  Uruguay,  more  than  forty 
rivers  of  lesser  importance  Avater  the  fertile  tracts  of 
Argentina.  Chile,  Avhose  breadth  varies  from  40  to  200 
miles,  suffers  from  no  dearth  of  rivers  in  spite  of  its 
narrow  Avidth,  its  northern  deserts,  and  its  cold  regions 
in  the  extreme  south.  Nearly  thirty  rivers  of  fair  size 
cross  the  country  in  different  directions,  and  the  largest, 
the  Biobio,  of  some  220  miles  in  length,  is  tAvo  miles  Avide 
at  its  entrance  into  the  Pacific  and  permits  small  steamers 
to  sail  a distance  of  100  miles  from  its  mouth. 

WATERFALLS  AND  AV ATER-PO AVER 

Incidentally,  and  as  a priceless  by-product  of  Avater 
resources,  some  portions  of  Latin  America  are  enriched 
by  Avaterfalls  Avhose  future  usefulness  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. The  most  notable  instance  is  Brazil.  At  the 
meeting-point  of  the  frontier  of  Brazil,  Argentina,  and 
Paraguay,  surrounded  by  secular  forests,  roar  the  foam- 
ing cascades  of  the  Iguazu  Palls,  higher  by  fifty  feet  than 
the  Niagara  Falls  and  1250  feet  greater  in  lateral  dimen- 
sions. The  Sete  Quedas  or  Guayra  Falls,  on  the  frontier 


Fallacies , Fancies , and  Facts 


15 


of  Paraguay,  have  an  estimated  force  of  80,000,000  horse- 
power, and  other  falls  are  correspondingly  high  in  energy. 
Cities,  towns,  and  even  villages,  which  otherwise  might 
continue  in  medieval  darkness,  now  enjoy  the  latest  elec- 
trical improvements  in  consequence  of  their  nearness  to 
some  of  these  waterfalls,  and  public  utility  corporations 
have  released  power  often  unavailable  in  the  ordinary 
way  because  of  the  scarcity  or  the  prohibitive  cost  of 
coal. 

Data  such  as  these  suggest  the  part  to  be  played  by 
waterways  and  water-power  in  Latin  America.  They  in- 
dicate that  railroads  and  highways  need  not  be  depended 
upon  solely,  though  it  is  only  by  the  joint  use  of  all 
these  modes  of  locomotion  that  the  boundless  resources 
of  Latin  America  can  be  fully  developed.  But  when  ocean 
steamers  from  New  York  and  Liverpool  can  reach 
Iquitos,  Peru,  1800  miles  up  the  Amazon  from  Para, 
Brazil,  long  and  expensive  railroad  connections  are  often 
not  absolutely  indispensable.  The  number  of  cities  and 
towns  served  by  boat  is  much  larger  than  most  of  us 
suspect,  for  thriving  centers,  of  whose  names  we  never 
hear  mention,  lie  along  these  routes  and  constitute  depots 
for  European  and  American  goods.  In  Chile,  many  of 
the  rivers  of  small  carrying  power  perform  a different, 
but  equally  beneficial,  function  in  bringing  to  plains 
naturally  sterile  the  alluvial  deposits  and  moisture  which 
transform  them  into  fruitful  garden-spots. 

GRANDEUR  OF  LATIN  AMERICAN  MOUNTAIN  SCENERY 

The  mountains  of  Latin  America  are  likewise  invaluable 
social  assets.  In  themselves,  and  as  objects  of  nature, 
they  cannot  help  stirring  the  imagination  by  their 
grandeur.  Aconcagua,  rearing  its  snowy  peak  to  the 
nearly  incomparable  altitude  of  more  than  23,000  feet 
between  Argentina  and  Chile;  the  twenty  stupendous 
crests  of  the  Avenue  of  Volcanoes  in  Ecuador,  all  of  which 
are  higher  than  Pike’s  Peak;  Misti,  of  the  perfect  cone 
(over  18,000  feet),  and  Sarasara  (19,500  feet)  in  Peru; 


16 


Fallacies , Fancies , and  Facts 


Illampu  (21,470  feet)  and  Illimani  (21,040  feet)  in 
Bolivia ; and  the  lofty  table-lands  extending  from  Mexico 
to  Chile  must  awaken  respect  in  admirers  of  the  sublime 
and  cause  them  to  share  the  wonder  of  Mr.  Frederick 
Church,  the  celebrated  painter,  who  characterized  this 
mountain  scenery  as  the  grandest  in  the  world. 

Tourist  travel,  which  is  an  important  economic  benefit 
to  many  privileged  lands  and  the  mainstay  of  whole  cities 
and  the  surrounding  country,  as,  for  example,  in  Colorado 
and  Switzerland,  will  unquestionably  in  the  course  of  time 
turn  toward  the  scenic  splendors  of  Latin  America. 

But  the  mountains  of  Latin  America  have  an  even  more 
direct  economic  and  social  bearing.  Besides  holding  much 
of  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  world,  they  multiply  the 
variety  of  agricultural  products  and  diversify  the  climate 
in  a manner  rarely  understood  in  the  United  States. 

CLIMATE 

Climate  throughout  the  major  portion  of  Latin  America 
is,  so  to  speak,  vertical,  not  horizontal.  If  the  type  of 
climate  depended  entirely  on  latitude,  the  fallacious  be- 
lief that  few  of  the  countries  are  “white  men’s  countries” 
might  seem  plausible.  Because  South  America  lies  to  the 
south  of  us,  the  average  American  normally  regards  it 
as  a uniformly  torrid  region.  Schoolday  preconceptions 
exert  on  the  untraveled  and  the  unanalytic  a power 
as  immovable  as  the  dead  hand  of  the  past.  To  counter- 
balance usually  superficial  impressions,  it  should  be  pos- 
sible to  represent  geographical  facts  by  some  such  means 
as  the  juxtaposition,  let  us  say,  of  South  America  in 
reversed  form  at  the  side  of  North  America  so  as  to  show 
graphically  the  true  conditions  and  relationships. 

Ecuador,  the  land  of  the  equator,  should,  according  to 
map  appearances,  be  one  of  the  most  tropical  countries 
in  the  world.  In  reality,  because  of  its  physical  configura- 
tion, Ecuador  supports  all  the  products  of  all  the  zones, 
from  the  tropical  to  the  glacial : and  one  may  stand  in 
certain  places  and  contemplate  sugar-cane,  potatoes, 


THE  SOLDIERS  LEAP  ' — GORGE  IN  THE  ANDES,  ACROSS  WHICH  ONE 
OF  O'HIGGINS  S CAVALRY  LEAPED  HIS  HORSE  TO  ESCAPE 
THE  ROYALISTS. 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 


17 


barley,  and  wheat  growing  simultaneously,  according  as 
one  lets  the  eye  ascend  to  the  higher  mountain-lands.  The 
average  temperature  of  Ecuador — which  is  much  lower 
than  might  be  expected — is  79  degrees  Fahrenheit  as  a 
maximum  in  the  coast  region,  but  in  the  Inter-Andean 
region  it  becomes  58  degrees.  Bogota,  the  capital  of 
Colombia,  has  a temperature  ranging  between  58  and  60 
degrees  Fahrenheit.  Four  hours  distant  by  train,  the 
temperature  averages  86  degrees,  and  the  most  exotic 
fruits  of  the  torrid  zone  flourish.  In  the  market-places 
of  Bogota,  bananas,  pineapples,  yams,  alligator-pears  are 
displayed  side  by  side  with  fresh  garden-truck  of  the 
temperate  highlands,  potatoes,  peas,  peaches,  apples, 
strawberries,  and  the  common  cereals,  just  as  at  La  Paz, 
Bolivia,  llamas  laden  with  ice  from  the  mountains  are 
often  seen  close  by  mules  from  the  lowlands  laden  with 
oranges  and  other  tropical  fruits.  It  is  as  if  Indiana  and 
Maine  were  superimposed  on  Florida  or  Cuba. 

Evidently  the  much  talked-of  “white  man’s,  land”  is 
rarely  far  to  seek  in  Latin  America,  even  where  tropical 
conditions  predominate.  Beginning  with  the  southern 
half  of  Brazil,  the  characteristics  of  the  south  temperate 
zone  prevail.  In  the  table-lands  of  the  southern  states, 
snow  is  frequent,  a coating  of  ice  may  form  on  the  lakes 
and  ponds,  and  the  thermometer  may  fall  to  the  freezing- 
point.  This  occurs  not  only  in  the  State  of  Rio  Grande 
do  Sul,  but  also  in  the  States  of  Parana,  Santa  Catharina 
and  Sao  Paulo,  further  north,  where  the  average  tem- 
perature away  from  the  coast  is  68  degrees:  and  the  fact 
will  no  doubt  surprise  the  average  American.  Rio  Grande 
do  Sul  is,  indeed,  noted  for  its  excellent,  equable  climate, 
and  Mr.  Roger  Babson,  in  The  Future  of  South  America, 
repeatedly  expresses  admiration  for  the  climate  and  agri- 
cultural advantages  of  this  most  southerly  of  the  Brazilian 
states.  An  idea  of  the  kind  and  quantity  of  crops  of  the 
temperate  zone  raised  in  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  may  be  obtained 
from  these  figures  published  for  1919  by  the  United  States 
Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce : 


18 


Fallacies , Fancies,  and  Facts 


Products 

Metric  tons 

Products 

Metric  tons 

Corn  

. . 1,632,000 

Rice  

152,000 

Vegetables  

420,000 

Pumpkins  .... 

75,000 

Herva  Mate  . . . . 

171,000 

Susrar  cane  . . . 

31,500 

Wheat  

108,000 

Tobacco  

15,250 

45,000 

Beans  

121,000 

Wine  

Mandioca 

155,000 

Alfalfa  

176.000 

Sweet  potatoes  . 
Irish  potatoes  . . . 

180,000 

83,600 

Fruits  

400,000 

Farther  south,  the  climatic  conditions  are  as  a rule 
those  of  our  more  northerly  states,  with  the  difference  that 
extreme  cold  is  rare  except  at  the  lower  extremity  of  the 
continent  and  that  the  temperature  is  generally  Californian 
in  quality.  Here,  the  horizontal  distance  from  the  equator 
is  the  determining  factor,  and  not  the  vertical  elevation, 
as  at  La  Paz,  Quito,  Bogota,  Caracas,  and  Mexico  City,  the 
five  highest  capitals  in  the  world,  rising  from  a distinctly 
tropical  base.  The  climate  of  Uruguay  is  most  like  that 
of  Italy,  two-thirds  of  the  days  being  sunny,  and  explains 
in  part  enthusiastic  declarations  such  as  that  uttered  by 
Dr.  J.  A.  Zahm,  Roosevelt’s  companion  in  South  America 
and  the  originator  of  that  remarkable  expedition: 

California  is  justly  famed  as  a flowerland.  So  is  the  French 
Riviera,  but  I have  never  seen  in  either  of  these  favored  regions 
of  Flora  such  gorgeous  displays  of  bloom  as  I have  witnessed 
in  and  around  Uruguay’s  magnificent  capital. 

Across  the  continent,  Chile  raises  melons  oftentimes 
weighing  twenty  pounds,  peaches  weighing  nearly  a pound, 
Tacna  watermelons  as  fine  as  the  luscious  Georgia  article, 
zapallos — a kind  of  pumpkin — weighing  from  75  to  100 
pounds  and  sometimes  as  high  as  215  pounds,  pears, 
quinces,  apricots,  apples,  cabbage,  lettuce,  cauliflower, 
tomatoes,  artichokes,  potatoes,  and  the  like.  The  “Irish” 
potato,  it  may  be  observed,  is  now  generally  accepted  as 
having  originated  in  the  Andean  highlands  of  Chile,  where 
it  is  often  frozen  hard  and  kept  indefinitely,  being  then 
known  as  chuno.  As  pleasant  in  climate  as  Uruguay  and 
some  parts  of  Chile  is  a great  deal  of  Paraguay,  including 


Fallacies , Fancies,  and  Facts 


19 


the  practically  uninhabited  Gran  Chaco,  whose  climate  has 
been  likened  to  a perpetual  Mediterranean  spring. 

These  are  “white  men’s”  lands  beyond  the  peradventure 
of  a doubt,  and  “white  men”  from  Italy,  Spain,  Portugal, 
Germany,  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  France,  and  Russia, 
whom  the  enervating  comforts  of  ‘ ‘ modern  improvements  ’ ’ 
do  not  deter,  are  gradually  taking  them  up. 

THE  NEGRO  QUESTION 

The  average  American  has  a fixed  idea  that  Latin 
America  as  a whole  is  a region  of  “black  brethren”  or  at 
best,  “little  brown  brothers,”  prone  to  the  philosophy  of 
manana  (to-morrow),  and  ever  willing  to  put  up  with  mas 
o menos  (more  or  less).  That  Latin  America  is  not  “black” 
or  even  “red”  and  that  Latin  Americans  are  in  reality 
industrious  and  hard-working  will  undoubtedly  strike  the 
American  public  as  two  notions  conjured  up  by  an  over- 
zealous  imagination.  They  are,  nevertheless,  true. 

The  negro  problem,  as  we  know  it,  does  not  exist  in 
Latin  America. 

In  the  first  place,  in  the  tropical  and  subtropical  north- 
ern section  of  Latin  America,  where  negroes  are  numerous, 
the  European  Latin  freedom  from  racial  prejudice  makes 
it  possible  for  the  white  and  the  black  races  to  live  in 
amity  and  to  intermingle.  In  northern  Brazil,  particularly, 
the  doctrine  is  popular  that  the  fusion  of  the  races  is  result- 
ing in  a nation  better  adapted  to  its  New  World  environ- 
ment : and  certain  it  is  that  many  of  the  most  eminent 
Brazilian  statesmen,  artists,  and  men  of  letters  have  had 
a marked  negro  strain.  This  does  not  mean,  however,  that 
the  color  line  is  not  drawn  at  all,  for  there  are  social  circles 
in  the  countries  most  liberal  toward  negroes  in  which  the 
appearance  of  a negro  or  a mulatto  would  be  regarded 
as  a profanation.  But  by  and  large,  and  as  a result  of 
the  European  Latin  attitude  toward  miscegenation,  and 
not  because  the  Latin  American  feeling  is  peculiarly 
uncritical,  northern  Latin  America  is  tolerant  of  the  negro 
and  has  avoided  the  tension  and  the  repugnance  which  are 
so  noticeable  in  Anglo-Saxon  America. 


20 


Fallacies , Fancies,  and  Facts 


In  the  second  place,  negroes  are  not  a significant  element 
in  the  greater  part  of  Latin  America.  Southern 'Brazil  has 
never  had  a larger  proportion  of  negroes  than  our  north- 
ern States  and  probably  never  will.  There  are  practically 
no  negroes  in  that  most  enterprising  of  Brazilian  States,  Sao 
Paulo.  There  are  few  negroes  in  Chile,  where  strict  immi- 
gration laws  ban  them  along  with  the  Chinese.  The  negro 
is  virtually  non-existent  in  Argentina  and  Uruguay,  as 
well  as  in  Bolivia,  Ecuador,  Peru,  and  Costa  Rica.  Nor 
is  he  a factor  in  Mexico.  Many  a southern  or  western 
South  American,  accustomed  to  conditions  in  his  own 
country,  has  not  been  able  to  hide  his  astonishment  at  the 
heavy  negro  population  of  our  southern  States. 

The  absence  of  negroes  from  those  Latin  American  coun- 
tries in  which  they  have  failed  to  gain  a foothold  is  due, 
it  need  hardly  be  said,  to  historical  reasons  rather  than  to 
foresight  or  prejudice.  It  should  be  added,  too,  that 
wherever  the  negro  is  found  in  Latin  America  he  is,  as 
may  be  expected,  usually  more  Latin  in  his  traits  than 
negro  and  often  not  distinguishable,  except  by  his  color, 
from  his  white  countrymen. 

THE  INDIAN  QUESTION 

^The  Indian  population  in  some  countries  does,  to  be 
sure,  present  something  of  a problem,  but  it  is,  in  our 
eyes,  of  quite  a distinct  nature  from  the  negro  problem. 
Brazil  still  has  within  its  borders  about  1,300,000 
Indians;  Peru  1,700,000;  Ecuador  1,000,000;  Bolivia,  900,- 
000 : Nicaragua  is  seven-eighths  Indian ; and  the  popula- 
tion of  Mexico  is  heavily  Indian:  for  the  Spaniards,  ruth- 
less as  they  are  reported  to  have  been,  did  not  exterminate 
the  original  owners  of  the  land.  The  other  countries 
have  either  completely  assimilated  their  Indians  or  nearly 
done  so.  As  in  the  United  States,  it  is  to  be  expected 
that  the  Indian  strain  will  disappear  in  a relatively  short 
time  through  the  increase  in  immigration,  the  greater 
fruitfulness  of  immigrant  families,  the  limited  power  of 
adaptation  of  the  Indian,  and  the  generally  adverse  con- 
ditions in  sanitation,  food,  inherited  defects,  and  addic- 


Fallacies , Fancies , and  Facts 


21 


tion  to  alcohol  which  have  wrought  havoc  among  the 
Indians  of  both  continents.  For  the  present,  the  Indians 
of  Latin  America  supply  a large  share  of  the  labor  needed 
in  mining,  agriculture,  and  the  industries.  They  have, 
too,  on  occasions,  produced  some  of  the  most  capable 
leaders  in  Latin  America^^/One  of  the  most  interesting 
chapters  still  to  be  written  on  Latin  America  will  set 
forth  the  emergence  out  of  unpropitious  surroundings  of 
men  of  Indian  extraction  in  Latin  America  who  have  left 
the  imprint  of  their  spirit  of  independence,  energy,  and 
sagacity  on  several  countries.  The  names  of  Hidalgo, 
Juarez,  Porfirio  Diaz,  Altamirano,  Andres  Santa  Cruz, 
Paez,  deserve  a conspicuous  place  in  history. 

LATIN  AMERICA  NOT  EFFETE 

The  industry  of  Latin  Americans,  whatever  their  com- 
plexion, has  always  offered  opportunities  for  reprobation 
to  American  writers  and  travelers.  How  undeserved  much 
of  the  comment  is  may  be  gathered  from  a brief  statement 
<)f  facts.  That  we  should  carp  at  the  laboriousness  of  less 
favored  nations  is,  of  course,  somewhat  ridiculous.  By 
reason  of  our  mechanical  appliances,  our  splendid  trans- 
portation facilities,  and  our  labor  laws,  we  have  become 
the  leisure  nation  par  excellence.  The  Latin  American 
undoubtedly  works  more  minutes  per  day  and  harder  per 
minute  than  the  progressive  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

In  1900,  a year  in  which  our  figures  for  population 
(75,994,575)  are  comparable  with  the  figures  for  the 
present  population  of  Latin  America  (about  80,000,000), 
our  foreign  commerce  amounted  to  $2,444,424,266.  In 
1919  Latin  American  foreign  commerce  amounted  to 
$5,064,588,740,  or  more  than  double  our  own  per  capita, 
as  the  figures  stand,  and  probably  not  far  below  ours 
if  the  changed  conditions  in  money  values  are  taken  into 
account.  It  is  conceded  by  every  patriotic  American 
that  we  have  the  most  productive  country  in  the  world, 
more  machinery,  and  more  efficient  labor-saving  devices. 
What  else,  then,  can  this  Latin  American  business  mean 
than  that  the  Latin  Americans  are  fully  as  laborious  as 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 


we  are — if  not  more  so?  All  the  sowing,  harvesting, 
sacking,  hauling,  shipping  of  agricultural  products  and  all 
the  smelting,  forging,  hammering,  assembling  of  manu- 
factured products  in  Latin  America  are  done  by  Latin 
Americans,  usually  without  the  benefit  of  our  superlative 
implements,  splendid  roads,  and  multitudinous  railroads. 

Mr.  Nevin  0.  Winter  in  Argentina  and  Her  People  of 
Today  offers  some  instructive  testimony  on  this  score: 

The  term  “effete,”  so  often  applied  to  Latin  nations  and  the 
“proverbial  laziness”  of  Spaniard  and  Italian,  so  often  referred 
to  by  writers,  does  not  apply  here  [in  Buenos  Aires].  From 
the  shipping  sections  where  boats,  barges  and  tugs  throng  in 
endless  procession,  from  the  flats  on  the  river  where  hundreds 
of  acres  have  been  reclaimed  in  recent  years,  to  the  business 
section  and  the  wide  tree-planted  avenues  where  the  electric  cars 
rush  out  into  the  residence  section,  the  traveller  will  observe  noth- 
ing but  movement  and  effort,  unceasing  work  and  activity. 

The  Spanish  and  Italians  spoken  of  are,  it  must  be 
understood,  Argentinians. 

EXAMPLES  OF  LATIN  AMERICAN  ENERGY 

A sense  of  fairness  should  compel  us  to  judge  Latin 
American  ability  and  energy  by  what  has  been  accom- 
plished in  repeated  instances.  The  register  of  extra- 
ordinary achievements  is  too  long  to  be  recited  in  full, 
but  a few  salient  data  will  demonstrate  sufficiently  well 
the  magnitude  of  Latin  American  enterprise  and  the  vigor 
with  which  practical  problems  involving  hard  work  are 
attacked. 

When  the  Government  of  Argentina  decided  to  build 
its  new  Palace  of  Congress,  which  has  already  cost  over 
$11,000,000,  an  entire  section  of  the  city  had  to  be  re- 
modeled. Five  hundred  business  houses  and  private 
residences  had  to  be  torn  down,  whole  streets  had  to  be 
altered,  and  an  extensive  square  had  to  be  laid  out, 
graded,  and  beautified  into  a fitting  site.  In  90  days  the 
work  was  finished:  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
few  similar  projects  have  ever  been  carried  out  with 
greater  speed  in  the  United  States.  The  construction  of 


Fallacies , Fancies , and  Facts 


23 


the  Avenida  do  Rio  Branco  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  entailed  a 
like  transformation  and  was  effectuated  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Dr.  Passos  with  startling  rapidity.  Over  a 
thousand  houses  were  demolished  and  removed,  streets 
eliminated,  sidewalks  and  roadbeds  paved,  trees  planted, 
and  public  buildings  erected  in  the  space  of  IS  months. 
The  reputation  of  this  splendid  avenue  as  the  most  superb 
street  in  the  world  testifies  to  the  artistic  taste  and  the 
admirable  workmanship  of  the  Brazilian  director  and  his 
Brazilian  employees. 

Buenos  Aires,  of  course,  as  the  chief  metropolis  of 
Latin  America,  may  be  expected  to  demonstrate  in  the 
most  conspicuous  fashion  the  degree  and  the  quality  of 
Latin  American  energy  and  progressiveness  at  their  best. 
That  it  compares  favorably  with  the  greatest  of  foreign 
cities,  though  the  capital  of  a republic  having  at  present 
a population  of  only  about  9,000,000  inhabitants,  is  a fact 
of  extreme  future  significance.  What  its  size  and  achieve- 
ments will  be  when  Argentina  has  ten  or  fifteen  times  its 
actual  density  of  population  of  nine  inhabitants  per  square 
mile  is  a subject  for  interesting  specidation.  Thus  far  it 
has  kept  pace  with  the  most  advanced  cities  in  either 
of  the  hemispheres.  It  has  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
and  expensive  port  systems  in  the  world,  the  largest  hide 
and  wool  market  in  the  world,  one  of  the  most  colossal 
warehouse  buildings  in  the  world  in  its  Central  Produce 
Market,  one  of  the  most  complete  systems  of  grain 
elevators  in  the  world,  one  of  the  most  extensive  street- 
car systems  in  the  world,  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
splendid  opera  houses  in  the  world,  one  of  the  finest  and 
largest  race-tracks  and  stadiums  in  the  world,  one  of  the 
handsomest  club-houses  in  the  world,  owned  by  one  of 
the  most  exclusive  of  clubs,  two  of  the  greatest  news- 
papers in  the  world — one  of  which,  La  Prensa,  has  one 
of  the  best  equipped,  most  imposing,  and  most  useful 
journalistic  buildings  in  the  world,  costing  $3,000,000,  and 
what  is  considered  nearly  the  best,  if  not  actually  the 
best,  of  foreign  news  services — and  some  of  the  most 
palatial  public  and  private  buildings  in  the  world.  In 


24 


Fallacies , Fancies,  and  Facts 


the  opinion  of  ex-Seeretary  Colby,  “the  Colon  Theatre 
(of  Buenos  Aires)  would  make  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
House  look  like  a hastily  constructed  theatre  in  one  of 
the  rural  towns  of  the  Shubert  Circuit.”  This  opera 
house  cost  $10,000,000  and  occupies  an  entire  square. 

But  Buenos  Aires  is  not  all  Latin  America  and  has  no 
monopoly  on  the  “grand  style,”  whether  in  buildings,  in 
business,  or  in  spending. 

LATIN  AMERICAN  MAGNITUDES 

Mexico  City  possesses  in  its  Cathedral  the  most  impres- 
sive temple  on  this  hemisphere,  surpassed  by  only  three 
others  in  the  world,  namely,  St.  Peter’s,  St.  Paul’s,  and 
the  Cathedral  of  Seville.  Its  theater  is  accounted  the 
finest  now  in  existence.  The  Botanical  Gardens  of  Bio 
de  Janeiro,  embracing  a million  square  meters  of  land 
and  containing  over  50,000  different  species  of  flora,  has 
scarcely  a superior  anywhere,  and  its  Avenue  of  Palms, 
formed  by  134  palms  averaging  80  feet  in  height,  has 
no  equal.  El  Cerro  de  Santa  Lucia  of  Santiago,  Chile, 
has  been  termed  by  many  travelers  the  most  beautiful 
recreation  park  in  the  world.  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil,  has 
military  barracks  which  aroused  envy  in  M.  Clemenceau : 

It  is  true  that  we  were  discussing  a select  troop,  who  enjoy 
not  only  special  pecuniary  advantages,  but  also  quarters  called 
by  the  vulgar  name  of  barracks,  but  which,  for  convenience, 
hygiene,  and  comfort  far  surpass  anything  that  our  wretched 
budgets  can  allow  us  to  offer  to  the  French  recruits. 

Latin  American  cities,  in  spite  of  their  age,  are  young 
in  development.  The  time  may  easily  be  foreseen  when 
Buenos  Aires,  now  the  second  largest  Latin  city  in  the 
world,  coming  next  to  Paris,  will  be  the  largest,  when 
Buenos  Aires  and  Rio  de  Janeiro,  with  a present  population 
of  over  1,500,000  and  1,000,000,  respectively,  will  displace 
Philadelphia  and,  perhaps,  Chicago,  in  the  census  lists 
of  the  Western  Hemisphere,  and  when  many  Latin 
American  cities,  either  because  of  their  size  or  of  their 
beauty,  or  because  of  their  natural  picturesqueness  will 
become  the  show  places  of  the  New  World.  The  growth 


AVENUE  OF  ROYAL  PALMS,  RIO  BOTANICAL  GARDENS.  AVENIDA  CENTRAL,  RIO  DE  JANEIRO. 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 


25 


of  several  of  them  to  immense  proportions  in  population 
and  commerce  is  certain,  for  already  Havana  and  Buenos 
Aires  receive  and  despatch  more  merchandise  annually 
than  any  other  ports  in  the  Western  Hemisphere  after 
New  York;  Valparaiso,  Chile,  is  the  most  important  harbor 
on  the  west  coast  after  San  Francisco;  and  a brilliant 
future  is  predicted  for  Panama  as  the  residt  of  transit 
through  the  Canal. 

POSSIBILITIES  IN  GROWTH 

To  the  growth  of  wealth  in  Latin  America  by  reason 
of  its  natural  resources  and  to  the  consequent  future 
increase  in  population  no  limits  can  now  be  set  which 
will  not  seem  extravagant  to  us  and  niggardly  to  later 
generations.  In  countries  where,  as  in  Argentina,  the 
average  holding  of  100,000  reported  landowners  is  six 
square  miles,  or  where,  as  in  Argentina,  Brazil,  Peru, 
Paraguay,  and  Mexico,  numerous  estates  range  from  100,- 
000  to  1,000,000  acres,  or  where,  as  in  Patagonia,  one  of 
the  grazing  ranches  comprises  more  than  2,000,000  acres, 
or  an  area  larger  than  that  of  the  State  of  Khode  Island, 
all  is  possible,  especially  after  the  era  of  intensive  cultiva- 
tion has  set  in.  To  those  who  doubt,  two  forecasts  by  that 
most  judicious  of  observers,  Viscount  Bryce,  will  unques- 
tionably prove  interesting. 

And  now  we  may  return  to  South  America,  the  only  continent 
containing  both  a large  temperate  and  a large  tropical  area 
capable  of  cultivation  which  still  remains  greatly  underpeopled. 
It  is,  therefore,  the  chief  resource  to  which  the  overpeopled 
countries  may  look  as  providing  a field  for  emigration,  and  to 
which  the  world  at  large  may  look  as  capable  of  reinforcing  its 
food  supply. 

In  this  immense  fertile  and  temperate  country  [Argentina] 
with  hardly  six  people  to  a square  mile,  what  limit  can  we  set 
to  the  growth  of  wealth  and  population?  Already  the  nation  is 
larger  than  the  Dutch  or  Portuguese  or  Swedish.  Within  fifty 
years  it  may  approach  France  or  England,  even  if  the  present 
rate  of  increase  be  reduced.  It  may  one  day  be  the  most  numerous 
among  all  the  peoples  that  speak  a tongue  of  Latin  origin,  as 
the  United  States  is  already  the  most  numerous  of  all  that  speak 
a Teutonic  one. 


26 


Fallacies,  Fancies,  and  Facts 


LAVISH  EXPENDITURE  AS  A SIGN  OF  WEALTH 

Evidences  of  the  wealth  of  Latin  America  are  visible 
both  in  the  “splurge”  of  city  life  and  in  the  prices  paid 
for  articles  of  luxury  and  utility.  A stall  in  the  opera 
at  Montevideo  costs  $12  and  a box  $80;  and  $50  to  hear 
eminent  singers  like  Caruso  at  one  performance  is  not  an 
unusual  price.  Membership  in  the  Jockey  Club  of 
Buenos  Aires  costs  over  $2000  in  initiation  fees  and  more 
than  $600  as  annual  dues:  but  this  can  scarcely  seem  a 
high  rate  in  Argentina,  where  millionaires  are  more 
numerous  in  proportion  to  population  than  in  any  other 
country  in  the  world.  The  bets  made  every  year  at  the 
Hippodrome  of  the  Jockey  Club  in  the  Parque  de  Palermo 
run  well  over  $25,000,000.  Cattle  and  race-horses  bring 
in  Argentina  and  Uruguay  prices  that  would  seem  pro- 
hibitive even  to  us.  Imported  stud-horses  have  been  bought 
for  $150,000;  $60,000  has  been  paid  for  a bull;  and  in 
1920  the  respectable  amount  of  2,700,000  pesos  (exchange 
value  of  the  peso  at  that  time  being  $.3925)  was  paid  for 
12,000  steers  in  a single  transaction.  Fabulous  sums  are 
spent  in  Latin  America  for  automobiles,  furniture,  dress, 
jewelry,  and  expensive  sports  by  the  moneyed  classes:  and 
the  palatial  residences  and  fashionable  turnouts  in  the 
important  centers  of  social  activity  are  not  excelled  in 
Europe  or  the  United  States. 

Of  late  years,  the  attitude  of  our  writers  toward  Latin 
America  has  been  distinctly  favorable.  Better  knowledge 
and,  above  all,  a stronger  desire  to  become  acquainted 
with  Latin  American  realities  have  changed  the  ideas  of 
many  writers,  travelers,  and  readers.  Certainly  it  would 
seem  to  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to  pay  some  attention  to 
countries  which,  in  a still  undeveloped  state,  can  present 
so  many  instances  of  initiative  and  enterprise  and  so  many 
opportunities  to  a world  in  need  of  new  fields  and  elbow- 
room. 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  END  OF  ISOLATION 

From  the  standpoint  of  the  modern  technological  civi- 
lization, Latin  America  has  belonged  for  about  four  cen- 
turies to  that  large  group  embracing  most  of  the  Orient 
— with  the  exception  of  Japan — and  Russia.  Partly 
through  geographical  reasons,  partly  through  political 
reasons,  and  partly  through  racial  reasons,  it  has  stood 
aloof  from  the  industrial  and  scientific  movements  which 
have  so  significantly  altered  the  course  of  civilization  in 
Europe  and  America.  Left  to  its  own  resources,  it  would 
have  remained  in  relative  isolation  for  an  indefinite  period. 
But  no  region  can  now  escape  the  penetration  of  modern 
economic  and  social  forces:  and  Latin  America  has  proved 
no  exception  to  the  rule.  It  is  emerging  from  its  simple, 
quasi  pastoral  life  into  the  complex  evolution  of  a techno- 
logical age. 

In  the  past,  the  mere  matter  of  distance  from  the  centers 
of  modern  activity  was  sufficient  to  isolate  Latin  America 
from  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  the  distances  between  Latin 
American  countries,  in  conjunction  with  the  primitive  state 
of  communication,  prevented  the  coast  cities,  which  always 
maintained  some  form  of  contact  with  outside  nations, 
from  disseminating  quickening  influences  in  the  interior. 

Had  Paraguay  occupied  the  position  of  Uruguay,  the 
Dictator  Francia,  called  El  Supremo,  could  never  have 
kept  Paraguay  a hermit  republic  for  more  than  a quarter 
of  a century  (1814—1840)  and  sealed  it  absolutely  to 
foreign  intrusion:  and  if  Mexico  had  extended  its  roads 
and  railways  to  a degree  at  all  comparable  with  that 
attained  in  the  neighboring  American  states,  many  of  its 
revolutions  could  not  have  occurred,  its  marvelous  wealth 
would  have  been  put  to  practical  use,  and  its  admission 

27 


28 


The  End  of  Isolation 


into  the  circle  of  the  promising  nations  of  the  world  would 
by  now  be  an  accomplished  fact. 

PENETRATING  FORCES 

Recent  events  and  tendencies  are  demolishing  the  walls 
of  Latin  American  isolation  with  startling  rapidity.  The 
obstacle  presented  by  distance  no  longer,  in  any  real  sense, 
exists.  The  declaration  of  many  casual  students  of  Latin 
American  affairs  to  the  effect  that  intercourse  between 
Latin  America  and  the  United  States,  for  instance,  will 
always  be  hampered  by  the  distance  from  our  metropolitan 
cities  to  the  chief  cities  of  South  America  has  little,  if 
any,  merit. 

SHORTENING  OF  DISTANCES  TO  LATIN  AMERICA 

The  Panama  Canal  has  placed  the  West  Coast  of  South 
America  four  and  five  thousand  miles  nearer  the  United 
States  than  it  had  been  before,  and  the  utilization  of  more 
powerful  steamships  has  materially  cut  down  the  time 
required  in  making  the  voyage  from  New  York  to  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  Buenos  Aires,  and  Montevideo.  By  the  Canal 
route,  Valparaiso,  Chile,  is  only  4637  miles  from  New  York, 
as  contrasted  with  the  previous  8588  miles,  and  4035  miles 
from  New  Orleans,  as  opposed  to  the  previous  9005  miles. 
London,  which  has  been  9044  miles  distant  from  Valparaiso, 
is  still  7397  miles  away  by  the  Canal  route. 

The  improvement  effected  by  the  Canal  in  reducing  the 
distance  between  the  upper  West  Coast  of  South  America 
and  the  United  States  is  even  more  marked.  Guayaquil, 
Ecuador,  has  profited  to  the  extent  of  8700  miles  in  its 
dealings  with  New  York,  having  approached  to  within  2800 
miles  of  that  port  from  its  former  distance  of  11,500  miles. 

On  the  East  Coast  of  South  America,  although  no 
geographical  short-cut  is  possible,  similar  reductions  can 
be  secured  by  an  increase  in  the  horsepower  of  the  steam- 
ships using  that  route,  as  was  recently  shown  by  the  12 
days’  run,  under  adverse  conditions,  of  a United  States 
ship  from  New  York  to  Rio  de  Janeiro.  There  is 
no  reason  why  the  feats  of  the  “Mauretania”  or  the 


The  End  of  Isolation 


29 


“ Deutschland’ ’ should  not  be  duplicated  on  the  South 
Atlantic.  Buenos  Aires  is  less  than  twice  as  far,  and  Rio 
de  Janeiro  only  about  once  and  a half  as  far,  from  New 
York  as  Liverpool:  and  ships  of  the  caliber  of  the 
“Mauretania”  should  with  ease  make  Rio  in  10  days  and 
“B.  A.,”  as  the  local  British  call  it,  in  12  days. 

As  the  importance  of  the  South  American  trade  becomes 
more  patent,  the  size  and  power  of  the  steamships  engaged 
in  its  service  will  necessarily  be  augmented.  In  any  event, 
modern  commerce  recognizes  no  such  thing  as  distance. 
India,  China,  and  South  America  command  more  diligent 
attention  from  Great  Britain  than  Denmark,  and  Argen- 
tina is  considered  a greater  prize  in  the  United  States 
than  Greece. 

The  belief  that  distance  is  but  a slight  barrier  to  trade 
evidently  animated  Spain  in  the  colonial  days.  Fearful 
lest  England,  France,  and  the  Netherlands  might  traffic 
too  freely  in  its  new-found  possessions,  it  undertook  a 
severely  restrictive  policy,  debarring  all  nations  from  com- 
mercial relations  with  Latin  America.  It  shipped  goods 
to  Latin  America  and  received  goods  from  it  through  the 
medium  of  the  flota  or  fleet,  which  plied  between  Spain 
and  Spanish  North  America,  and  the  galeones  or  galleons, 
which  voyaged  between  Spain  and  South  America.  The 
trip  was  made  only  once  a year  by  each  group  of  vessels, 
and  the  system  was  maintained  practically  intact  from 
1561  to  1748. 

But  for  the  varied  smuggling  carried  on  by  the  buc- 
caneers, privateers,  and  traders  of  other  nationalities,  the 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  colonies  in  America  remained  set 
apart  from  communication  with  the  world  of  progress, 
prohibited  even  from  the  exchange  of  products  with  one 
another,  and  from  commerce  with  any  other  city  in  Spain 
than  Seville,  which,  through  its  Casa  de  Contratacion 
(House  of  Trade)  exercised  a genuine  monopoly.  Dis- 
tance— which  then  meant  the  greater  part  of  a year  before 
goods  or  correspondence  reached  some  parts  of  South 
America,  and  sometimes,  as  Professor  William  R.  Shep- 
herd mentions,  seventeen  months — and  Spanish  govern- 


30 


The  End  of  Isolation 


mental  manipulation  imposed  isolation  on  Latin  America 
for  centuries.  That,  however,  is  not  as  curious  as  the 
notion  still  held  by  some  educated  persons  that  the  same 
state  of  isolation  subsists  to-day.  Thousands,  perhaps 
hundreds  of  thousands,  of  reputable  American  citizens 
imagine  the  major  portion  of  Latin  America  to  be  an 
extension  of  the  wilds  of  Brazil  as  described  by  Theodore 
Roosevelt. 

Isolation,  too,  has  been  inherent  to  Latin  America  both 
because  of  the  character  of  its  original  dwellers  and  be- 
cause of  the  semi-Oriental  life  imposed  by  the  Spaniards 
on  the  earlier  civilization.  Nowhere  have  the  Indians 
of  their  own  accord  adventured  far  into  foreign  lands 
or  attempted  to  discover  what  was  on  the  other  side  of 
the  waters  surrounding  them : and  it  is  almost  certain 
that  they  never  would  have  done  so  to  this  day.  The 
Spaniards  and  Portuguese,  whose  whole  ambition  in 
Latin  America  was  to  keep  the  easy  fruits  of  slave  labor 
to  themselves,  repelled  advances  by  others  and  cared  less 
about  the  progress  of  the  countries  which  they  had  taken 
than  about  their  own  comfort.  They  instituted  a domestic 
economy  savoring  of  Orientalized  Andalusia  and  were 
prepared  to  enjoy,  time  without  end,  the  blessings  of  an 
untroubled  landed  proprietorship  or  the  wealth  extracted 
from  the  mines  by  docile  Indian  serfs. 

EMERGENCE  FROM  ISOLATION 

In  general,  the  isolation  of  Latin  America  from  uni- 
versal main  currents  lasted  until  about  fifty  years  ago. 
Since  then,  Brazil  has  become  a self-governing  republic 
(1889),  Paraguay  has  regained  its  independence  (1870) 
after  a heart-breaking  struggle  with  the  combined  forces 
of  Uruguay,  Argentina,  and  Brazil,  Cuba  (1898)  and 
Panama  (1903)  have  become  autonomous  political  entities, 
Colombia  has  changed  from  a federal  to  a unitary  govern- 
ment, substituting  its  present  name  “The  Republic  of 
Colombia”  for  its  old  title  “The  United  States  of 
Colombia,”  and  Brazil  has  definitively  assumed  the  fed- 
eral constitution  (1887)  under  the  name  of  “The  United 


The  End  of  Isolation 


31 


States  of  Brazil”  and  removed  the  last  vestiges  of  slavery 
in  Latin  America  by  its  decree  of  abolition  in  1888. 

Beginning  with  1876,  as  Professor  Shepherd  rightly 
intimates,  Latin  America  has  been  traveling  on  the  road 
of  modern  progress.  That  date  may  be  taken  to  represent 
the  end  of  the  isolation  of  Latin  America.  Whatever  of 
importance  has  been  achieved  in  aligning  Latin  America 
with  the  more  liberal  spirit  of  the  modern  world  may 
be  said  to  fall  within  the  period  dating  from  1876.  The 
opportunity  for  improvement  has,  then,  been  extremely 
limited  in  time. 

This  does  not,  to  be  sure,  mean  that  Latin  America 
has  felt  the  modern  urge  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  its  territory.  For  any  reasoning  as  to  its 
progressiveness,  it  is  divisible  into  four  sections:  the 
coastal  and  insular  regions  and  the  southern  half  of 
South  America,  which  are  immediately  open  to  foreign 
influence,  and  the  interior  and  the  entire  northern  section, 
which,  because  of  their  present  inaccessibility  and  their 
more  tropical  climate,  absorb  foreign  elements  more 
slowly.  An  encouraging  phase  of  the  situation  in  the 
latter  regions  is  found  in  the  dissatisfaction  expressed 
by  thoughtful  Latin  Americans. 

To-day  [writes  Don  Mario  Ribas  in  an  article  in  El  Renaci- 
miento  of  Tegucigalpa,  Honduras,  and  translated  in  Inter- 
America],  we  desire  to  refer,  in  a concrete  manner,  to  the 
humiliating  isolation  in  which  we  live  in  this  beautiful  land  of 
pines'  and  mountains. 

We  are  fifty  hours  from  the  capital  of  Costa  Rica,  and,  never- 
theless, our  contact  with  that  charming  country  is  as  remote  as 
if  it  were  on  the  European  continent.  The  little  telegraphic  news 
that  is  sent  us  from  there  reaches  us  five  to  eight  days  after 
having  been  despatched;  Costa  Rican  newspapers  are  received 
here  from  twenty  to  thirty  days  after  being  issued;  letters  come 
with  the  same  delay. 

Well,  then:  would  it  not  be  wise  for  someone  to  take  it  on 
himself  to  remedy  these  evils  that  so  much  affect  our  reputation  ? 
Would  it  not  he  well  for  someone  to  study  carefully  the  way 
to  improve  our  communications  with  the  rest  of  the  world  by 
changing  the  blessed  system,  guilty  of  the  evil  we  mention? 

This  particular  case  is  extreme,  no  doubt,  but  it  is  to 


32 


The  End  of  Isolation 


the  credit  of  progressive  Latin  Americans  that  it  arouses 
righteous  indignation  instead  of  that  philosophic  acquies- 
cence in  things  as  they  are  which  is  assumed  to  be  the 
dominant  Latin  American  trait. 

INCREASE  IN  SHIPPING 

The  most  profound  change  in  Latin  America’s  relations 
with  its  neighbors  of  the  world  has  been  wrought  by  the 
tremendous  increase  in  shipping  facilities  since  the  days 
of  the  annual  visit  of  the  Spanish  fleet.  Shipping  implies 
entrance  and  egress,  the  admission  of  goods,  people,  and 
ideas,  and  foreign  travel. 

It  is  difficult  for  an  American  citizen  with  his  pre- 
conceived notions  concerning  Latin  America  to  realize  that 
Latin  America  is  speedily  becoming  one  of  the  great 
shipping  objectives  of  most  of  the  nations  of  the  world. 
The  energy  being  displayed  in  this  branch  of  international 
communication  parallels  the  efforts  of  international 
bankers  at  affording  Latin  America  the  largest  possible 
amount  of  financial  connections  with  the  rest  of  the  world. 
As  in  banking,  shipping  is  vital  not  only  because  of  what 
it  brings  into  the  Latin  American  countries,  but  even 
more,  perhaps,  because  of  what  it  secures  from  them  for 
general  world  utility. 

A catalogue  of  the  American  ships  actually  engaged  in 
the  Latin  American  trade,  including  the  ships  recondi- 
tioned and  allocated  by  the  United  States  Shipping  Board, 
while  nearly  as  romantic,  on  account  of  their  history, 
their  names,  and  their  purpose,  as  Homer’s  celebrated 
catalogue  of  the  ships,  would  prove  too  lengthy  for  ordi- 
nary reading.  Suffice  it  to  say  that,  a shipping  total  of 
39,000,000  tons  (1920)  represents  a very  respectable  num- 
ber of  individual  ships,  particularly  when  those  ships  are 
for  the  most  part  of  moderate  displacement. 

More  than  30,000  craft,  steam  and  sail,  come  in  and 
out  of  the  harbor  of  Buenos  Aires  annually,  or  an  average 
of  over  80  every  day  in  the  year.  During  1920,  3101 
steam  vessels  and  177  sailing  vessels  entered  the  port  of 
Bio  de  Janeiro,  of  which  438  were  American.  In  1905 


The  End  of  Isolation 


33 


not  a single  American  steamer  put  in  at  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
and  of  the  seven  sailing  vessels  which  made  that  port, 
two  were  in  distress!  In  1913  not  a single  American 
vessel  arrived  at  Buenos  Aires,  though  an  observer  in 
1852  counted  more  than  600  vessels  flying  the  American 
flag  in  the  harbor  of  Buenos  Aires:  in  1919,  335  American 
vessels  arrived  in  the  Argentine.  Well  over  50  steam- 
ship lines  arrive  and  depart  regularly  from  Argentine 
ports  representing  every  maritime  nation  on  the  globe: 
and  30  or  more  steamers  a week  leave  United  States 
docks  alone  for  Cuba. 

After  but  six  years  of  operation,  the  Panama  Canal 
transmitted  in  1920  a net  tonnage  of  10,378,265  tons  or 
over  1,000,000  tons  more  than  the  Suez  Canal  in  1918, 
and  more  than  half  as  much  as  the  highest  Suez  record 
of  20,275,120  tons  in  1912 : and  much  of  this  tonnage  was 
in  transit  between  Latin  America  and  the  rest  of  the 
world. 

The  casual  observer  can  but  stand  amazed  at  the 
feverish  anxiety  to  make  shipping  connections  with  Latin 
America  which  appears  to  characterize  every  sea-faring 
nation  in  the  world.  It  is  as  if  Latin  America  had  just 
been  discovered  and  everybody  were  fired  with  the  ambi- 
tion to  establish  a stake  in  the  land  of  El  Dorado.  Be- 
sides the  lines  of  old  standing,  such  as  the  Lamport  and 
Holt  Line,  the  Funch-Edye  Line,  the  Pacific  Steamship 
Company,  the  Houston  Line,  the  Lloyd  Brazileiro,  new 
steamship  accommodations  seem  to  be  initiated  daily. 

The  following  items  selected  from  nearly  fifty  announce- 
ments of  new  service  projected  or  actually  instituted 
during  the  past  two  years  give  a faint  idea  of  the  variety 
of  steamship  connections  between  Latin  America  and 
foreign  countries  and  of  the  cosmopolitan  character  of 
the  recently  awakened  interest  in  the  southern  republics. 

The  Blue  Diamond  Line  is  building  two  2000-ton  ships 
to  operate  between  New  York  and  Guayaquil,  Ecuador. 
With  a capital  of  $4,000,000,  the  Compania  Viajera 
Antillana  has  been  formed  for  the  West  Indian  trade 
and  is  having  7 steamships  laid  down  in  the  shipyards 


34 


The  End  of  Isolation 


of  the  United  States  and  England.  Contracts  have  been 
let  in  the  United  States  by  the  Companhia  Minas  e Viagao 
de  Matto  Grosso  of  Brazil  for  the  construction  of  20 
vessels.  The  Munson  Line  has  lately  added  to  its  South 
American  service  the  “American  Legion,”  which  has 
shown  her  ability  to  make  Rio  de  Janeiro  from  New 
York  in  11  days,  and  is  about  to  send  her  sister-ship,  the 
“Southern  Cross,”  over  the  same  route.  The  Trans- 
atlantica  Italiana  and  the  Nacional  de  Navegacion  have 
already  instituted  service  to  Chile  by  way  of  Panama  and 
expect  to  add  10  more  ships,  receiving  a substantial 
subsidy  from  the  Chilean  Government.  Three  large  re- 
frigerator vessels  are  soon  to  be  placed  in  the  New  York 
service  by  the  South  American  Steamship  Company  for 
the  transportation  of  fresh  fruits  and  vegetables  from 
Chile  to  the  American  market.  Herr  Hugo  Stinnes,  the 
German  capitalist,  has  entered  the  “Hindenburg”  as  the 
first  of  a series  of  steamships  connecting  Germany  with 
the  La  Plata  region.  The  Hugo  Persson  Line  has  diverted 
some  of  its  passenger  and  freight  vessels  to  establish  a 
service  between  Goteborg,  Sweden,  and  Venezuelan  ports. 
A joint  steamship  service  has  been  organized  by  the  Van 
Nievelt  Goudriaan  and  Company’s  Steam  Navigation 
Company  and  the  Holland-American  Line  to  offer  two 
distinct  fortnightly  services  between  Rotterdam,  Ham- 
burg, and  Antwerp  and  Brazil,  Uruguay,  and  Argentina. 
The  ships  of  the  Prince  Line  Far  East  Service  have  begun 
to  ply  between  Yokohama  and  Havana.  The  Canadian 
Government  has  half  a dozen  ships  in  the  Caribbean  and 
South  American  trade  and  is  projecting  additional  service 
between  Vancouver  and  Mexican,  Central  American,  and 
South  American  ports. 

Omitting  hundreds  of  other  happenings  of  profound 
import  in  the  shipping  world,  such  as  the  enlargement 
of  the  piers  at  the  Panama  Canal,  the  construction  of 
new  dockyards  at  Vera  Cruz  and  of  a dry  dock  with  a 
capacity  of  2500  tons  at  Valparaiso,  the  rapid  building 
of  ships  in  Latin  American  shipyards — 134  of  which  were 
finished  by  national  workmen  at  Barranquilla,  Colombia, 


The  End  of  Isolation 


3 5 


alone  between  1912  and  1916 — the  erection  of  an  expensive 
office  building  at  Cristobal,  Canal  Zone,  by  British  ship- 
ping interests,  the  constant  widening  of  the  docks  at 
Buenos  Aires,  which  are  without  a superior  in  the  world 
and  have  already  cost  considerably  more  than  $50,000,000, 
it  may  be  said  that  a new  era  in  world  contact  has 
undeniably  dawned  in  Latin  America. 

We  may  assume,  also,  as  a matter  of  course,  that  the 
multiplication  of  shipping  facilities  will  bring  increased 
immigration  to  Latin  America  in  its  wake  and  that  the 
possibilities  of  heavy  immigration  are  furthered  by  our 
own  immigration  restrictions,  our  business  depression  re- 
sulting in  unemployment,  and  the  general  labor  situation 
in  this  country. 


IMMIGRATION 

Immigration  into  Latin  America  involves  several  ques- 
tions of  extremely  curious  character.  Every  Latin  Amer- 
ican country  is  to-day  suffering  from  man-power  hunger. 
Vast  stretches  of  inhabitable  land  lie  unused  and  tre- 
mendous natural  resources  remain  undeveloped  through 
want  of  population.  Nations  all  over  the  world  are  bank- 
rupt in  space;  Germany  and  Japan  have  fought  costly 
wars  partly  for  the  purpose  of  providing  room  for  their 
excess  population;  the  Jews  of  the  world  cherish  the 
dream  of  a country  of  their  own  in  which  to  assume  the 
unequivocal  status  of  a well-defined  nationality  and  to 
secure  economic  well-being:  and  yet  there  has  been  no 
sudden  rush  to  Latin  America.  Propitious  though  the 
latter  has  always  been  to  settlers,  and  rich  enough  in 
supplies  and  opportunities  to  satisfy  the  needs  of  home- 
seekers  for  countless  years,  immigration  into  Latin 
America  has  pursued  a leisurely  course. 

The  explanation  is  to  be  sought  on  the  one  hand  in  the 
policy  of  isolation  maintained  by  Spain  nearly  until  Latin 
America  gained  its  independence  and  in  the  turbulent 
conditions  following  the  revolutionary  wars,  and,  on  the 
other,  in  the  real  distance  of  Latin  America  from  Europe 
down  to  a recent  date  and  in  the  anti-pioneering  spirit 


36 


The  End  of  Isolation 


fostered  in  some  countries  by  an  accumulation  of  “modern 
improvements.”  The  first  three  causes  are  easily  com- 
prehensible. The  fourth  seems  trifling,  but  is  in  truth 
potent,  and  accounts  for  the  direction  from  which  immi- 
gration streams. 

The  intrepid  colonizers  come  from  Italy,  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  the  agricultural  districts  of  Germany,  where 
primitive  conditions  still  obtain  and  man  has  not  become 
enervated  by  the  influence  of  labor-saving  devices  and 
all  the  appurtenances  of  a comfort  loving  civilization. 
Farming  in  Italy  and  farming  in  Argentina,  Brazil,  or 
Uruguay  constitute  an  identical  operation:  the  work  is 
done  with  sweat  of  brow,  by  the  use  of  rough  implements, 
and  in  similar  climatic  circumstances ; and  life  is  simple 
and  unadorned.  Land  at  five  dollars  an  acre  in  the 
agricultural  paradise  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  Brazil,  is 
not  by  any  means  without  charm  to  the  American  farmer 
who  pays  from  $200  to  $300  for  land  that  is  not  a Avhit 
better : but  he  does  not  venture  to  buy  it.  He  is  unwill- 
ing to  “rough  it”  in  a primitive  environment. 

Compared  with  our  own  immigration,  that  of  Latin 
America  appears  small.  But  it  is  always  well  to  remem- 
ber that  we  cannot  in  fairness  employ  our  figures  of  over 
a million  immigrants  in  1910  and  1913,  or  our  immigra- 
tion “peak”  of  1,285,349  in  1907,  as  a standard  for  Latin 
America.  We  must  reckon  back  nearly  50  years — the 
lead  which  we  have  over  Latin  America  in  self-govern- 
ment and  free  expansion — in  order  to  obtain  a proper 
basis  for  comparison,  for  it  is  only  by  such  a retrospect 
that  we  can  expect  to  duplicate  general  conditions  in  the 
United  States  and  in  Latin  America. 

In  1875  the  number  of  immigrants  arriving  in  the 
United  States  totaled  227,498,  or  slightly  more  than  the 
214,000  who  entered  Argentina  alone  in  1905.  Not  until 
1881  did  our  annual  immigration  amount  to  half  a million, 
and  not  until  1905,  to  a million.  If,  by  1927,  half  a million 
immigrants  land  in  Latin  America  for  the  year,  and  if. 
by  1951,  a million  are  admitted  for  that  year,  Latin 
America  will  have  kept  pace  with  us  according  to  t.he 


The  End  of  Isolation 


37 


most  rigid  arithmetical  calculations.  That  such  will 
actually  turn  out  to  be  the  case,  nobody  familiar  with 
the  immigration  progress  being  made  now  in  Latin 
America,  the  inducements  offered  by  the  Latin  American 
governments,  the  conditions  in  Europe  and  the  Orient, 
restriction  of  immigration  in  the  United  State's,  and  the 
wealth  of  steamship  service  to  Latin  America — always  a 
most  important  factor — can  for  an  instant  doubt. 

The  four  countries  of  the  most  highly  cosmopolitan 
complexion  in  Latin  America  are  Argentina,  Chile, 
Uruguay,  and  Brazil.  These  countries  are  in  close  touch 
with  the  rest  of  the  world  and  cannot  any  longer  be 
characterized  as  remote  or  isolated,  no  matter  how  little 
we  in  the  United  States  may  know  about  them.  To 
immigration,  with  its  enlivening  qualities  and  its  external 
bonds,  more  than  to  any  other  cause,  can  be  ascribed  the 
transformation  of  southern  South  America  from  a region 
of  medieval  obscurity  to  one  of  ubiquitous  modern 
relations. 

The  influx  of  immigration  into  Argentina,  Chile, 
Uruguay,  and  Brazil  has  given  a predominantly  Italian 
or  German  cast  to  many  sections  of  each  country. 

Whether  Argentina  can  now  be  termed  a thoroughly 
Spanish  country  is  a question,  for  nearly  a quarter  of 
its  population  is  Italian,  and  there  is,  within  the  limits 
of  Buenos  Aires,  a larger  Italian  city  than  Rome  itself. 

As  in  our  own  large  cities,  the  Italians  of  Argentina 
tend  to  congregate  in  groups,  form  their  own  aristocracy, 
maintain  their  own  churches,  establish  their  own  artistic 
circles,  and  exert  a political  power  commensurate  with 
their  numerical,  social,  and  economic  prominence.  Much 
of  the  labor  of  Argentine  cities  is  done  by  Italians,  and 
a great  part  of  the  agricultural  work  is  accomplished  by 
Italians,  many  of  whom  belong  to  a pi’ofessional  farm- 
labor  class  which  harvests  the  crops  of  Argentina  during 
the  months  of  December,  January,  February,  and  March, 
and  returns  to  Italy  in  time  to  plant  and  to  reap  its  own 
harvests  in  the  Italian  summer  and  autumn. 

The  Italians  settling  in  Argentina  are,  as  a rule,  from 


38 


The  End  of  Isolation 


the  north  of  Italy,  hard-working,  serious,  and  ambitious 
to  improve  their  lot.  That  they  are  not  content  to  remain 
at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder,  from  which  most  of  them 
have  started,  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  out  of  401,555 
foreigners  owning  land  in  Argentina  in  1914,  over  203,500 
were  Italians,  and  that  many  of  the  most  eminent  bankers, 
planters,  business-men,  artists,  and  scholars  are  Italian. 
Whoever  visits  Buenos  Aires  will  often  wonder  if  he  is 
not  in  a new  Italian  metropolis,  and  whoever  crosses 
Argentina  from  the  Gran  Chaco  to  Tierra  del  Fuego  will 
find  Italians  everywhere,  whether  as  farm  and  factory 
hands  or  as  proprietors  and  industrial  leaders. 

Uruguay,  too,  has  a considerable  Italian  population, 
with  colonies  in  the  departments  of  Colonia  and  Soriano ; 
and  in  Montevideo,  as  in  Buenos  Aires,  the  Italians  are 
the  foremost  foreign  element.  Mr.  Robert  E.  Speer  aptly 
denominates  the  usual  Uruguayan  type  as  a mixture  of 
the  Spanish  and  the  Italian.  In  Chile,  however,  the  Italian 
yields  to  foreigners  of  a more  northern  European  strain. 
But  in  Brazil,  the  Italian  comes  into  his  own  again. 
Further  north  he  is  less  conspicuous,  and  on  the  West 
Coast  in  general,  he  offers  slight  competition  to  the  pre- 
ponderant German,  English,  and  Irish  groups.  He  is  at 
his  best  in  the  broad  agricultural  zone  of  the  East  Coast 
extending  down  from  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  and  it  is 
probable  that  his  proficiency  in  farm-work,  in  certain 
manufactures,  as  a railroad  hand,  and  as  a helper  on  the 
docks  explains  his  settlement  in  that  locality. 

This  year  (1921)  30,000  Italians  are  expected  to  arrive 
in  Brazil,  and  the  Italian  Government  is  understood  to 
be  desirous  of  concluding  a treaty  with  Brazil  for  the 
regulation  of  such  emigration  in  the  future.  During  the 
twelve  years  ending  with  1919,  Italy  sent  165,709  settlers 
to  Brazil — the  largest  quota  after  Portugal  and  Spain. 
From  1885  to  1905  the  number  of  Italian  immigrants  to 
Brazil  was  almost  three  times  as  large  as  the  number 
from  Portugal,  or  1,068,032  Italians  as  against  356,979 
Portuguese.  The  total  Italian  population  of  Brazil,  in- 


The  End  of  Isolation 


39 


eluding  children  born  of  Italian  parents,  is  now  consider- 
ably more  than  2,000,000. 

In  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo,  where  the  Italians  are 
principally  congregated,  they  number  fully  one-third  of 
the  entire  population,  or  more  than  1,000,000  out  of  a 
total  of  3,000,000:  and  their  influence  in  making  that 
State  the  most  progressive  and  energetic  in  the  Brazilian 
Union  can  scarcely  be  overestimated.  The  capital  of  Sao 
Paulo,  like  Buenos  Aires,  is  heavily  Italian,  more  than 
half  of  its  inhabitants  being  of  Italian  blood,  and  the 
Italian  language,  Italian  music,  and  Italian  laughter  may 
be  heard  the  livelong  day  in  many  sections  of  the  bustling 
city. 

In  Brazil,  as  in  Argentina  and  Uruguay,  the  Italian 
prefers  the  expansive  life  of  work  done  in  the  great  out- 
of-doors,  and  we  find,  consequently,  that  he  flocks  to  the 
vast  coffee  plantations,  most  of  which  are  manned  by  his 
fellows.  In  spite  of  the  numerical  superiority  of  Italians 
in  Brazil,  no  grave  Italian  problem  arose  during  the  war. 
Nor  was  there  fear  at  any  time  of  such  a problem,  as 
there  was  in  many  quarters  on  account  of  the  German 
population  of  Brazil. 

Next  to  the  Italians,  the  Germans  have  settled  in  Latin 
America  in  the  most  considerable  numbers — leaving  out 
of  account,  of  course,  the  Spaniards  and  the  Portuguese, 
who  may  be  regarded  at  all  times  as  imminent  Latin 
Americans — and  with  every  appearance  of  permanence. 
How  much  German  colonization  owes  to  instigation  by 
the  German  Government  will  probably  remain  a moot 
point,  but  that  it  has  always  shown  more  careful  organ- 
ization than  the  emigration  of  other  nationalities  is  cer- 
tain. 

The  German  colonists  of  Valdivia,  Chile,  indeed,  seem 
to  have  left  their  native  land  as  a protest  against  the 
military  and  political  career  mapped  out  for  the  newer 
Germany  toward  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
and  cannot  be  charged  with  German  propaganda,  but 
they,  too,  acted  collectively,  and  not  as  individuals, 
founded  their  homes  through  co-operation  in  one  of  the 


40 


The  End  of  Isolation 


garden  spots  of  southern  Chile,  and  by  common  consent 
retain  the  customs  and  speech  of  the  Fatherland.  They, 
together  with  the  colonists  of  Llanquihue,  now  number 
more  than  thirty  thousand.  The  opinion  of  some  writers, 
such  as  Mr.  Clayton  S.  Cooper,  to  the  effect  that  these 
settlers  entered  into  the  German  scheme  of  penetration 
in  South  America  with  the  aim  of  creating  a German 
Empire  in  Latin  America,  must  be  discounted  in  view  of 
the  early  date  of  their  emigration  to  Chile.  They  have 
preserved  their  language,  schools,  and  churches,  as  agri- 
cultural Germans  are  likely  to  do  everywhere : as  they  do 
to-day,  or  were  doing  before  the  war,  in  some  districts 
of  Nebraska  and  Missouri.  Their  undertaking  was  no 
more  “inspired”  than  that  of  the  group  of  citizens  in 
Freiburg,  Germany,  who  have  recently  begun  (1920)  the 
publication  of  a Paraguayan  review  for  the  purpose  of 
fomenting  emigration  to  Paraguay.  One  of  the  “vulgar 
errors”  which  must  cautiously  be  guarded  against  in 
treating  of  German  immigration  into  Latin  America  is 
the  widely  disseminated  notion  that  every  German 
colonist  in  Latin  America  marched  under  the  aegis  of  the 
Prussian  eagle. 

No  Latin  American  country  is  without  its  contingent 
. of  German  settlers.  In  Cuba,  Venezuela,  Mexico, 

Guatemala,  and  in  most  of  the  West  Indies  they  are 
proprietors  of  coffee  and  sugar  plantations,  conduct 
important  commission  houses,  and  have  large  banking 
interests.  It  is  possible  that  something  like  a loose  organ- 
ization, at  least  sentimental,  binds  them  to  one  another, 
to  German  firms  in  the  United  States,  and  to  the  mercan- 
tile and  industrial  institutions  of  Germany. 

The  chief  German  centers,  however,  are  situated  in 
the  southern  part  of  South  America,  principally  in  Brazil, 
Argentina,  and  Chile. 

Brazil  presents,  perhaps,  the  best  instance  of  the  various 
steps  through  which  German  immigration  has  passed  in 
Latin  America.  Beginning,  in  the  fifties,  with  settlements 
made  by  Germans  dissatisfied  with  political  and  economic 
conditions  in  Germany — and  therefore  never  an  instru- 


The  End  of  Isolation 


41 


ment  of  the  German  Governmenf — it  continued  by  addi- 
tions attracted  through  the  success  of  the  original 
colonists,  increased  with  the  definite  support  and  encour- 
agement of  Imperial  Germany,  reached  its  moment  of 
greatest  pride  when  a statesman  of  German  descent  be- 
came the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  Brazil,  under- 
went an  eclipse  when  Brazil  declared  war  against 
Germany  and  seized  German  ships  and  property,  and  is 
now  being  revived  through  private  initiative  in  Germany, 
with  the  full  approval  of  the  Brazilian  authorities. 

The  Brazilian  debt  to  these  German  settlers  is  large, 
and  so  thoroughly  have  Germans  become  an  integral  part 
of  Brazilian  national  life  that  a diminution  in  their  num- 
bers and  influence  may  be  set  aside  as  highly  improbable. 

German  colonists  now  practically  control  two  of  the 
most  fruitful  states  of  the  Brazilian  republic,  namely, 
Santa  Catharina  and  Rio  Grande  do  Sul.  From  about 
20,000  German  immigrants  in  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  in  1859, 
the  German  population  has  grown  by  natural  increase  and 
the  arrival  of  newcomers  to  over  200,000,  and  the  German 
population  of  Santa  Catharina,  though  smaller,  shows  a 
like  rate  of  progress.  The  State  of  Parana  is  also 
markedly  German.  In  these  three  states,  the  business 
houses  are  usually  under  German  control,  and  Brazilian 
employees  are  often  required  to  obtain  a knowledge  of 
German  in  order  to  be  able  to  serve  their  clientele  prop- 
erly. German  is  the  common  tongue. 

The  picture  drawn  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Zahm  indicates  the 
degree  to  which  German  colonists  have  made  themselves 
at  home  in  Brazil,  and  is  free  from  any  sinister  sugges- 
tion, just  as  the  life  itself  is  probably  free  from  anything 
bordering  on  political  contamination  by  Germany: 

So  true  is  this  that  one  may  travel  from  Sao  Leopoldo,  near 
Porto  Alegre,  for  almost  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  towards 
the  west  and  rarely  hear  any  language  but  German.  The  greet- 
ings of  the  peasants  on  the  highway  are  a cordial  guten  Tag  or 
guten  Abend,  and  their  accent  is  as  marked  as  that  of  a newcomer 
from  Thuringia  or  the  Rhineland.  They  are  kind  and  hospitable, 
and,  in  this  respect,  remind  one  of  the  Pennsylvania  Dutch  of 
a generation  ago.  They  have  everywhere  their  Vereine — social 


42 


The  End  of  Isolation 


and  athletic  clubs — where  the  customs  of  their  fathers  are  as 
rigidly  preserved  as  in  any  part  of  Germany.  In  the  larger 
towns,  beer  is  the  favorite  beverage  of  the  club  members,  but 
in  the  interior,  far  from  the  railroad,  mate  takes  its  place.  Every- 
where one  finds  large  families  of  light-haired,  ruddy-faced  chil- 
dren, and  to  listen  to  their  animated  prattling  in  German  one 
could  readily  fancy  oneself  in  a country  home  in  Bavaria,  or 
in  a village  in  Hanover. 

Far  from  decreasing,  German  immigration  into  Brazil 
shows  an  upward  trend  at  the  present  moment.  The 
economic  plight  of  Germany,  heavy  taxation,  the  discour- 
agement following  an  unsuccessful  war  which  made  the 
German  name  a subject  of  odium  in  many  countries 
hitherto  preferred  by  German  emigrants,  explicit 
announcements  of  the  Brazilian  Government  that  it  would 
welcome  and  aid  German  settlers,  and  the  assurance  that 
they  would  find  multitudes  of  their  countrymen  enjoying 
prosperity  and  honor  in  Brazil,  have  all  conduced  to  an 
unusual  German  interest  in  that  underpopulated  and 
incalculably  rich  republic. 

Recently,  the  steamship  “Caxias”  arrived  in  Brazil 
with  1000  German  immigrants  and  the  “Pocone,”  from 
Hamburg,  with  over  a thousand ; an  Austro-German  immi- 
gration society  for  settlement  throughout  Brazil  has  been 
founded  with  over  2000  members;  and  the  Government 
of  Brazil,  anticipating  a steady  flow  of  immigrants,  has 
asked  for  transportation  bids  from  the  steamship  com- 
panies carrying  passengers  between  Europe  and  South 
America. 

The  fear  of  German  aggression  has  now  disappeared 
in  Brazil,  the  entering  Germans  come  in  an  earnest  spirit 
and  very  much  in  need  of  sympathy,  and  the  results  of 
further  German  colonization  can  but  be  beneficial.  The 
States  of  Santa  Catharina  and  Rio  Grande  do  Sul  may  con- 
tinue to  receive  accessions  of  Germans  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
make  the  German  element  indisputably  preponderant,  just 
as  it  is  in  some  of  our  Middle  Western  states,  but  the 
Brazilian  authorities  have  learned  much  about  hyphena- 
tion and  duality  of  sentiment  during  the  war,  and  are 
prosecuting  a sturdy  campaign  of  patriotism  to  obviate 


The  End  of  Isolation 


43 


the  risk  of  harboring  equivocal  residents  within  their 
national  territory. 

Over  Argentina,  Chile,  Uruguay,  and  Paraguay,  Ger- 
mans have  spread  in  goodly  numbers,  and  delegates  of 
German  immigration  societies  are  to-day  busily  inves- 
tigating the  possibilities  of  group  colonization.  This  will 
naturally  mean  the  occupation  of  rural  lands,  and  a farm- 
movement  rather  than  a city-movement.  As  an  agricul- 
turist, the  German  is  exemplary.  His  sense  of  comfort 
and  neatness  causes  him  to  convert  bare  fields  into  well- 
ordered,  productive  land  and  to  conjure  a homelike 
atmosphere  out  of  the  desert  air.  He  is  also  unspoiled 
by  that  urban  German  forwardness  resembling  a military 
offensive,  which  leads  to  a distaste  for  his  manners  and 
suspicion  of  his  motives.  In  El  Chaco  of  Paraguay,  in 
the  valleys  of  Chile,  in  the  far  districts  of  Patagonia, 
the  German  is  a model  farmer  and  citizen,  and  asks  only 
to  be  permitted  to  work  out  his  salvation  by  thrift  and 
unremitting  toil.  He  has  nothing  in  common  with  that 
class  of  immigrants,  dangerous  because  of  their  destruc- 
tive sentiments,  their  secret  ambitions,  or  their  personal 
uneleanliness,  against  which  some  publicists,  in  spite  of 
Argentina’s  need  of  a continuous  flow  of  newcomers,  are 
already  urging  the  adoption  of  restrictive  measures 
similar  to  those  contained  in  the  Johnson  bill. 

Argentina  and  the  other  Latin  American  countries,  to 
be  sure,  cannot  afford  to  prohibit  immigration  even  for 
a year,  but  many  of  the  recent  labor  and  political 
troubles  indicate  that  they  may  be  obliged  to  exercise  a 
careful  choice  in  admitting  foreigners.  The  emergence 
from  isolation  brings  its  penalties  as  well  as  its  rewards. 

Among  the  other  foreigners  in  Latin  America,  the 
British  exert,  beyond  question,  the  greatest  per  capita 
influence.  Never  found  in  large  numbers — though  mak- 
ing up  the  respectable  figure  of  54,000  in  Brazil  by  1913 
— they  have  settled  in  every  country  and  are  connected 
with  important  banking,  agricultural,  railroad,  commer- 
cial, mining,  and  hydraulic  enterprises.  They  preserve  a 
social  aloofness,  yet  set  the  styles  in  sports,  men’s  dress, 


44 


The  End  of  Isolation 


and,  in  some  instances,  in  household  economy.  The 
wealthy  Argentine  family  often  boasts  a hall  and  an 
English  governess,  and  the  educated  Argentinian  or 
Chilean  interlards  his  speech  with  Anglicisms.  The  size 
of  the  British  colony  of  Buenos  Aires  may  be  judged  by 
the  fact  that  in  1910  eight  English  papers  were  published 
in  the  Argentine  capital — not  as  many,  indeed,  as  were 
published  in  Italian  (22),  but  equal  to  the  number  pub- 
lished in  French  and  in  German.  The  total  British  popu- 
lation of  Argentina  is  now  something  over  50,000. 

Particularly  noteworthy  among  the  British  settlers  are 
those  hardy  Scots,  Welsh,  New  Zealanders  who  work 
immense  tracts  of  land  in  Patagonia,  and  the  agricultural 
English  and  Irish  who  elect  to  cultivate  the  “camp,” 
frequently  giving  up  their  national  identity  and  speech 
for  the  nationality  and  language  of  their  adopted  country. 
In  Chile,  the  most  honored  names  are  of  men  of  British 
stock,  such  as  O’Higgins,  Lord  Cochrane,  Vicuna 
Mackenna,  who  have  contributed  gloriously  to  the  history 
and  learning  of  the  republic.  In  Peru,  too,  the  standing 
of  the  British  is  extremely  high,  though  their  numbers 
are  few. 

The  least  prominent  among  settlers  in  Latin  America 
are  the  North  Americans.  From  the  30,000  odd  Americans 
at  present  in  Mexico,  to  which  the  Mennonite  colony  of 
between  15,000  and  20,000  from  Canada  is,  it  is  reported, 
to  be  added  this  year  (1921),  and  the  7000  in  Cuba  in 
1914,  they  dwindle  to  a mere  handful  in  most  of  the  Latin 
American  countries.  But  the  expansion  of  American  busi- 
ness in  Latin  America  and  the  continued  exploitation 
of  oils  and  minerals,  together  with  the  high  cost  of  land 
and  the  limited  opportunities  for  cattle-raising  on  a large 
scale  in  the  United  States,  are  already  beginning  to  draw 
the  attention  of  persons  in  the  United  States  seeking 
broader  or  better  fields  of  action.  The  recent  project 
for  establishing  1000  American  families  in  Bolivia,  where 
120  acres  may  be  obtained  for  $5.00,  cannot  fail  to  inspire 
similar  undertakings.  Nothing  could  prove  more  benefi- 
cial to  our  commercial  and  cultural  relations  with  Latin 
America. 


The  End  of  Isolation 


45 


Nor  should  immigration  into  Latin  America  seem  a 
fearful  trial  to  our  citizens.  Better  immigration  induce- 
ments, regulations,  and  accommodations  are  offered  no- 
where. Italians,  Germans,  Spaniards,  Portuguese,  Scan- 
dinavians avail  themselves  of  this  liberality,  and  there 
is  no  reason  why  Americans  anxious  to  improve  their 
condition  should  not  do  so. 

A glance  at  the  following  data  of  immigration  shows 
the  cosmopolitan  make-up  of  the  larger  Latin  American 
republics  and  should  effectually  dispose  of  the  idea  that 
Latin  America  has  few  world  contacts  or  that  the  popu- 
lation is  anywhere  either  exclusively  Spanish  or  Por- 
tuguese or  almost  exclusively  Indian.  In  the  new  era 
upon  which  Latin  America  has  entered  with  the  twentieth 
century,  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  Europeanized,  and 
will  some  day  be  identical  as  a “melting  pot”  with  the 
United  States,  differing  only  in  the  circumstance  that  the 
basic  fabric  of  society  will  be  Spanish  or  Portuguese, 
instead  of  English,  as  among  us. 

Approximate  immigration  into  Argentina  during  the  past  50  years 


Italians  

2,250,000 

British  

53,000 

Spaniards  

1,500,000 

210,000 

Swiss  

32,000 

French  

Portuguese  

25,000 

Russians  

155,000 

Belgians  

22,000 

11,000 

Syrians  

130,000 

Greeks  

Austrians  

85,000 

Dutch  

7,000 

Germans  

60,000 

North  Americans  ... 

6,000 

Approximate  immigration  into  Brazil,  1820-1915 

Italians  

1,300,000 

French  

28,000 

Portuguese  

976,000 

468,583 

British  

22,000 

Spaniards  

Japanese  

15,000 

Germans  

123,000 

Swiss  

10,000 

Russians  

104,000 

Swedes  

5,000 

Austrians 

Turk-Arabs  

78.000 

52.000 

Belgians 

4,000 

Approximate  number  of  foreign  residents  in  Mexico  in 

1910 

Spaniards  

30,000 

French  

5,000 

North  Americans  (U. 

Germans  

4,000 

S.)  

29,000 

Turks  

3,000 

Chinese  

13,000 

Italians  

3,000 

British 

5,000 

Japanese  

2,000 

46 


The  End  of  Isolation 


The  effect  of  this  foreign  leaven  of  energetic  character 
and  procreative  capacity  on  the  small  basic  population 
of  Latin  America  and  on  the  slowly,  but  surely,  diminish- 
ing Indian  strain  must  portend  significant  ethnic  changes 
in  the  near  future,  and  should  result  in  highly  instructive 
social  phenomena. 


TRANSPORTATION 

The  development  of  internal  communication  in  Latin 
America  has  an  important  bearing  on  the  rate  of  immi- 
gration, and,  obviously,  on  the  rapidity  with  which  the 
remoter  regions  issue  from  their  actual  state  of  isolation. 
In  spite  of  the  magnificent  system  of  waterways  with 
which  South  America  is  supplied,  the  crying  need  every- 
where is  for  more  railroads,  more  highways,  more  auto- 
mobile roads.  Our  own  experience  has  demonstrated  that 
nothing  has  equaled  these  arteries  of  travel  and  trans- 
portation in  the  stimulation  of  agriculture  and  the  indus- 
tries. Latin  American  statesmen  and  financiers  are  thor- 
oughly convinced  that  the  ultimate  prosperity  of  their 
countries  is  conditioned  on  the  increase  in  railroad  and 
highway  transportation  facilities  and  are  making  every 
effort  to  extend  them  in  every  direction.  The  work  is 
necessarily  slow,  due  to  the  configuration  of  the  West 
and  North  coasts  of  South  America  and  to  the  small 
amount  of  coal  available  within  the  republics  themselves, 
but  the  work  has  never  stood  still  and  is  actually  pro- 
ceeding at  an  encouraging  rate. 

The  disparity  betAveen  our  264,233  miles  of  railroad 
and  the  65,000  or  70,000  miles  of  railroad  in  Latin  America 
need  not  mislead  us  into  underestimating  what  has  been 
accomplished  in  the  southern  republics,  however,  great 
that  difference  may  be  in  figures.  Forty-one  years  ago, 
only  93,267  miles  of  track  had  been  laid  in  the  United 
States:  and  Ave  must  wait  nearly  half  a century  before 
AA*e  can  expect  achieA’ements  resembling  our  OAArn  from 
Latin  America.  The  difference  between  the  date  of  our 
independence  and  that  of  the  Latin  American  republics 
should  not  be  forgotten  for  a moment,  in  making  com- 


The  End  of  Isolation 


47 


parisons.  Although  there  is  little  practical  use  in  draw- 
ing a parallel  between  any  of  the  Latin  American  coun- 
tries— which  are  genuine  countries,  and  not  states — and 
any  of  our  states,  it  is  still  interesting  to  observe  that 
in  absolute  mileage,  many  of  those  republics  exceed  ours. 

The  relative  smallness  of  our  states,  when  placed  be- 
side the  Latin  American  countries,  our  general  lack  of 
such  natural  fluvial  communication,  for  example,  as  per- 
mits vessels  of  9 and  even  14  feet  draft  to  reach  eleven 
large  interior  river-poi’ts  in  Uruguay — ships  therefore, 
of  nearly  twice  as  great  a draft  as  those  which  can 
navigate  the  Erie  Canal,  with  its  allowance  of  6 feet 
draft- — our  swift  evolution  of  industries,  and  our  habitua- 
tion to  rapid  means  of  locomotion  have  literally  forced 
a remarkable  railway  expansion  in  the  United  States. 

The  opposite  obtains  in  every  one  of  these  particulars 
in  Latin  America:  so  much  so,  that  most  of  us,  even 
when  admitting  the  huge  size  of  some  of  the  Latin  Amer- 
ican countries,  would  feel  inclined  to  doubt  that  Mexico 
has  more  railroad  mileage  than  New  York  State  or  that 
Uruguay  has  more  miles  of  railroad  than  Connecticut, 
Maryland,  or  New  Hampshire.  In  effect,  New  York  in 
1910  had  8429,  Connecticut,  1000,  Maryland,  1426,  New 
Hampshire,  1245  miles  of  railway  trackage.  The  railways 
of  Argentina  in  1918  totaled  21,880  miles;  of  Brazil  in 
1917,  17,477  miles;  of  Mexico  in  1914,  15,840  miles;  of 
Uruguay  in  1917,  1654  miles. 

Railway  progress  in  the  more  highly  modernized  coun- 
tries of  Latin  America  is,  in  fact,  well  advanced.  Buenos 
Aires  is  connected  with  the  interior  by  numerous  radiat- 
ing main  lines;  and  that  portion  of  the  republic  which 
lies  within  300  miles  of  the  capital  is  as  densely  studded 
with  rails  as  the  State  of  Ohio.  Direct  railway  connec- 
tion exists  between  Argentina  and  Chile,  Paraguay,  and 
Bolivia,  and  the  plans  of  both  Argentina  and  Brazil  look 
to  the  junction  of  the  main  Argentine  and  Brazilian  sys- 
tems. To-day,  Argentina  occupies  the  ninth  place  in  the 
world  in  railroad  mileage.  Brazil  is  joined  by  rail  to 
Argentina,  Uruguay,  and  Bolivia,  and  has  in  the  Sao 


48 


The  End  of  Isolation 


Paulo-Santos  line  perhaps  the  best  equipped  railroad  in 
the  world,  due  undoubtedly  to  the  fact  that  its  profits, 
above  a moderate  dividend,  should  revert  to  the  Govern- 
ment and  are  consequently,  for  reasons  which  will  readily 
be  understood  by  those  who  have  observed  some  of  the 
workings  of  our  excess  profits  tax,  employed  in  main- 
tenance of  the  highest  and  most  costly  type.  Chile  has 
direct  railroad  contact  with  Argentina  and  Bolivia,  and 
its  Longitudinal  Railway  already  covers  a distance  of 
1957  miles.  Peru  has  some  of  the  most  remarkable  rail- 
roads in  the  world,  including  the  Central  Railway,  which 
climbs  from  sea-level  to  a height  of  15,865  feet  near 
Oroya,  or  over  1700  feet  higher  than  Pike’s  Peak;  the 
Guayaquil-Quito  Line  of  Ecuador,  mounting  to  an  eleva- 
tion of  more  than  9000  feet  above  sea-level,  shortens  to 
two  days  a journey  which  formerly  took  two  weeks  on 
mule-back;  and  the  Trans-Andean  Line,  between  Argen- 
tina and  Chile,  and  the  La  Guaira-Caraeas  Railroad  of 
Venezuela  represent  some  of  the  most  ambitious  feats 
of  railway  engineering  as  yet  undertaken.  Ever  since 
1880,  Mexico,  racked  though  it  has  been  by  internal  up- 
heavals, has  kept  on  with  railroad  construction,  and  is 
now  finishing  such  projects  as  the  Durango-Canitas  line, 
instituting  new  projects,  and  building  many  additional 
terminals,  of  which  the  Tampico  station  in  Aztec  style 
and  the  union  station  in  Mexico  City  will  be  the  most 
noteworthy. 

In  the  course  of  another  half-century,  the  present  rail- 
way situation  in  Latin  America  will  be  regarded  as  but 
the  nucleus  for  the  real  railroad  development  which  is 
coming.  It  is  more  than  probable,  likewise,  that  we  shall 
learn  something  from  Latin  America  about  the  govern- 
ment ownership  and  operation  of  railroads,  for  Chile, 
Brazil,  Argentina,  and  Mexico  have  already  had  a con- 
siderable and  generally  successful  experience  in  that 
direction. 

Many  writers  and  travelers  maintain  that  not  railroads, 
but  highways  will  for  a long  time  be  the  chief  essential 
for  the  effectual  opening  up  of  the  unexploited  resources 


The  End  of  Isolation 


49 


of  Latin  America  and  for  the  definitive  settling  of  the 
land : and  anybody  who  has  traveled  over  the  nondescript 
trails  and  mud  roads  of  the  interior  or  even  of  the  rural 
districts  just  outside  the  cities  will  cordially  approve  this 
view.  The  immense  extent  of  non-urban  territory,  its 
rugged  condition,  and  the  traditional  indifference  of  gov- 
erning bodies  to  rural  needs  have  held  road-building  down 
to  a minimum. 

The  unorganized  peasants  of  Latin  America  have  rarely 
complained  about  the  hardships  in  getting  their  produce 
to  market.  Their  forefathers  drove  their  horses,  mules, 
burros,  or  llamas  before  them  in  biblical  fashion,  and 
what  was  good  enough  for  them  has  usually  been  good 
enough  for  their  descendants.  Economy  of  time  in  the 
simple  pastoral  age  in  which  they  have  lived  has  had  no 
special  charm.  The  rich  planters,  particularly  the  more 
modern,  money-making  individuals  or  corporations  who 
have  come  in  from  the  advanced  industrial  sections  of 
Europe  or  the  United  States,  have  either  had  railways 
built  to  their  estates  and  tolerated  poor  roads  more  than 
they  could  otherwise  have  done  or  have  put  up  with 
what  they  have  found,  depending  on  trains  of  rude,  heavy 
carts  and  plentiful,  cheap  labor. 

There  is  little  doubt,  indeed,  that  the  governments  of 
Latin  America  have,  until  very  recently,  done  less  for 
roads  than  the  aboriginal  Indians,  who,  especially  in 
Mexico  and  Peru,  constructed  enduring  highways  for 
their  armies,  their  merchants,  their  revenue  collectors,  or 
the  Spaniards,  to  whom  for  both  military  and  commercial 
purposes,  highways  were  absolutely  indispensable.  The 
Spaniards  in  Latin  America  were  in  exactly  the  same 
position  as  the  Romans  in  the  conquered  provinces:  and 
highways  followed  the  flag. 

The  apathy  with  regard  to  roads  has  resulted  partly 
from  the  withdrawal  of  policing  armies  and  partly  from 
the  investment  value  of  railways.  If  foreign  investment 
companies  were  able  to  derive  a satisfactory  and  regular 
profit  from  road-building,  the  highways  would  now  be 
in  as  flourishing  a state,  at  least,  as  the  railroads.  All 


50 


The  End  of  Isolation 


forms  of  transportation  in  Latin  America  have  thus  far 
owed  their  main  development  to  foreign  capital:  and 
steamships  and  railroads  return  a steady  yield  and  offer 
prospects  of  expanding  returns  whereas  roads  do  not.  In 
addition,  road-building  in  Latin  America  waits  on  govern- 
ment initiative  and  is  not  a popular  type  of  occupation 
to  the  laboring  classes,  even  immediately  before  elections. 

But  road-building  in  Latin  America  cannot  remain  at 
a standstill  wThile  everything  else  is  advancing.  The  dis- 
covery of  oil,  above  all,  in  almost  every  Latin  American 
country  points  to  immediate  highway  activity.  The  auto- 
mobile bids  fair  to  do  for  the  non-urban  district  what  it 
has  brought  to  pass  in  the  United  States.  It  should  prove 
as  destructive  to  isolation  as  it  has  in  every  section  of 
our  country. 

Curiously  enough,  Venezuela,  which  has  commonly  been 
depreciated  beyond  its  deserts,  in  spite  of  the  inspiration 
which  it  has  furnished  and  the  great  leaders — Miranda, 
Bolivar,  Andres  Bello — whom  it  has  produced  for  Latin 
America,  appears  to  be  forging  ahead  in  the  construction 
of  roads  more  rapidly  than  most  of  its  sister-republics. 
The  great  Western  Highwmy  which  will  join  Caracas  with 
San  Cristobal  across  the  country  at  the  frontier  of 
Colombia,  and  the  roads  from  Ocumare  to  San  Fernando 
on  the  River  Apure,  from  Coro  to  Trujillo  and  to  Mara- 
caibo, from  Barcelona  to  Ciudad  Bolivar,  the  chief  city 
on  the  Orinoco,  are  all  under  way  and  radiate  inland 
from  the  north  toward  the  west  and  south,  opening  up 
large  sections  to  commercial  and  automobile  traffic. 

In  Nicaragua,  an  American  syndicate  has  been  con- 
structing cart  roads  to  many  points  in  the  interior. 
Salvador  and  Guatemala  have  joined  the  good  roads 
movement,  mainly  Avith  the  object  of  facilitating  trans- 
portation to  and  from  the  interior;  Cuba  is  fairly  well 
provided  with  roads;  and  the  military  highway,  together 
with  numerous  stretches  of  road  built  by  the  American 
government  in  Porto  Rico,  is  a thing  of  beauty  and  a 
joy  forever.  On  the  South  American  continent,  the  small 
republic  of  Uruguay,  has  over  2000  miles  of  national 


The  End  of  Isolation 


51 


highways  and  3000  miles  of  wagon  roads  and  bridle  paths, 
though  Mr.  J.  0.  P.  Bland’s  acute  criticism  is  funda- 
mentally correct : 

One  need  not  be  a prophet  or  an  augur  to  perceive  that  the 
one  thing  needful  for  the  development  of  the  country  (and  with 
it  of  the  railway)  is  good  roads,  and  plenty  of  them,  throughout 
the  interior.  I have  met  with  estancieros  who  recognized  this 
fundamental  truth  and  who  would  be  glad  to  contribute  their 
fair  share  for  a comprehensive  scheme  to  make  and  maintain 
roads  for  motor  lorry  traffic;  but  as  a general  rule  they  prefer 
to  stick  to  the  good  old  hoary  system  which  isolates  the  estancias 
of  any  district  when  the  rivers  happen  to  be  in  flood,  and  which 
means  sending  produce  and  bringing  in  materials,  either  by  slow 
bullock-wagons  or  eight-horse  team,  over  the  vilest  of  makeshift 
mud  roads.  One  would  imagine  that  a government  which  pro- 
claims the  democratic  and  progressive  gospel  according  to  Senor 
Battle  would  perceive  the  futility  of  encouraging  the  immigration 
of  colonists  and  clmereros  [agriculturists]  without  first  evolving 
a practical  road-making  policy. 

Chile’s  public  roads  now  total  over  20,000  miles.  Brazil, 
though  making  slow  pi-ogress  in  roads,  has  good  auto- 
mobile roads  from  Santos  to  Sao  Paulo,  from  Sao  Paulo 
to  Campinas,  from  Piedade  to  Sorocaba,  and  in  several 
other  localities,  where  there  is  usually  a garage  or  two 
and  a repair  shop,  and  is  extending  a-  road  1000  miles 
in  length  to  connect  Guarapuava  in  the  State  of  Parana 
with  the  town  of  Matto  Grosso.  The  latter  highway, 
which  wrill  take  in  Yaccaria,  the  most  important  cattle 
center  in  the  State  of  Matto  Grosso,  is  reckoned  of  such 
prospective  value  by  the  Government  that  measures  have 
already  been  taken  for  the  colonization  of  Italians  along 
the  route.  With  the  fondness  for  motor  cars  which  charac- 
terizes the  inhabitants  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  the  construction 
of  automobile  roads  for  goodly  distances  from  the  capital 
in  every  direction  is  bound  shortly  to  be  an  assured  fact. 
Even  mountainous  Peru  has  of  late  years  become  con- 
vinced of  the  civilizing  and  commercial  influence  of  roads, 
has  many  short  automobile  routes  to  which  additions  are 
being  made,  has  completed  the  beautiful  Avenida  Miramar 
joining  Lima  to  half  a dozen  suburban  and  seashore  re- 
sorts, and  is  considering — though  it  can  scarcely  hope  to 


52 


The  End  of  Isolation 


carry  it  out — the  remarkable  expedient  of  making  road 
service,  payable  in  personal  or  hired  labor,  compulsory 
for  all  males  between  18  and  60  years  of  age.  Among  the 
organizations  chiefly  instrumental  in  stimulating  road- 
making in  Peru  is  the  Automobile  Club  of  Lima:  and 
various  other  automobile  clubs  in  Latin  America  have 
exerted  both  personal  and  corporate  power  to  a highly; 
significant  degree  in  securing  more  and  better  highways. 

Through  its  shipping,  immigration,  and  railway  and 
road  development,  Latin  America  as  a whole  is  yielding 
to  the  pressure  of  the  modern  technological  civilization 
and  taking  up,  sometimes  successively  and  sometimes 
simultaneously,  the  activities  of  the  modern  western 
world.  Its  transportation  is  not  now  what  it  was  in  the 
days  of  the  Incas  and  the  Aztecs  or  of  the  Spanish.  Its 
ethnic  structure  is  undergoing  a rapid  change  through 
modification  by  more  advanced  foreign  elements  than 
Spaniards  and  Portuguese  of  the  old  school.  Its  newly 
awakened  interest  in  roads,  resulting  to  a large  extent 
from  the  transcendent  role  of  oil,  signifies  that  it  has 
in  many  republics  at  last  become  aware  that  highways 
are  the  foundations  on  which  all  modes  of  transportation 
and  all  successful  colonization  ultimately  rest. 

Steamships,  railroads,  highways,  telephone  and  tele- 
graph systems,  and  newspapers  are  rapidly  overcoming 
Latin  America’s  isolation  with  respect  to  the  outside  world 
in  the  more  progressive  countries  and  slowly,  but  per- 
ceptibly, in  the  less  accessible  republics,  such  as  Bolivia 
and  Paraguay.  Fully  as  important  a result  is  the  break- 
ing down  of  sectional  barriers  within  Latin  America  it- 
self. 


COFFEE  PLANTATION,  VENEZUELA  — DRYING  THE  BEAN. 


CHAPTER  III 


CHANGING  INDUSTRIES 

During  the  major  part  of  its  history,  Latin  America 
has  been  taken  up  and  utilized  more  or  less  at  random, 
without  special  regard  for  the  morrow,  and  unmolested 
by  immediate  considerations  of  economic  necessity.  That 
time  has  definitively  passed. 

Latin  America  has  finally  moved  from  the  outer  fringe 
of  the  world  into  the  concert  of  nations  dominated  by 
economic  conceptions,  or,  to  state  the  case  differently, 
has  been  environed  by  the  ever-widening  circle  of  the 
technological  civilization.  This  change  is  visible  not  only 
in  the  social  evolution  that  is  going  on,  but  also  in  the 
evolution  of  the  various  industries  and  in  the  measures 
taken  to  adapt  them  to  present  world  conditions.  The 
visualization  of  a Latin  America  persisting  in  the  rudimen- 
tary raw  material  stage  needs  correction. 

AGRICULTURE  AND  MINING 

Agriculture  and  mining,  of  course,  still  constitute  the 
main  industries  of  Latin  America. 

Though  undermanned  and,  in  general,  untouched  by 
intensive  methods,  Latin  American  agriculture  has, 
through  mere  extent  of  territory  and  exuberance  of  soil, 
occupied  for  many  years  either  the  first  or  the  second 
place  in  the  world  in  the  production  of  corn,  sugar,  coffee, 
cacao,  the  third  or  fourth  place  in  the  production  of 
tobacco,  and  one  of  the  front  ranks  in  the  production 
of  cereals,  cattle,  and  wool.  Until  overtaken  of  late  years 
by  British  and  Dutch  East  Indian  competition,  Brazil 
possessed  a virtual  monopoly  of  rubber.  Recently,  Brazil, 
Peru,  and  Mexico  have  become  prominent  among  cotton- 
growing countries. 


53 


54 


Changing  Industries 


The  mineral  resources  of  Latin  America  continue  to 
hold  the  high  place  given  them  by  Spanish  exploitation 
centuries  ago.  Mexico  now  stands  first  in  the  world  in 
the  output  of  silver  and  Colombia  in  that  of  platinum ; 
Bolivia  occupies  the  second  rank  in  the  production  ot 
tin,  Chile  in  copper,  and  Mexico  in  petroleum;  Venezuela 
and  Cuba  and  British  Trinidad  together  lead  the  world 
in  the  production  of  asphalt.  Brazil  supplied  most  of 
the  diamonds  of  the  world  before  the  rise  of  the  Kimberley 
mines  in  South  Africa,  and  from  the  State  of  Diamantina 
have  come  such  famous  gems  as  the  Coroa  do  Portugal 
(Crown  of  Portugal),  weighing  127  carats,  and  the 
Estrella  do  Sul  (Southern  Star),  weighing  254y2  carats, 
uncut,  and  when  cut  125  carats.  The  latter,  purchased 
by  the  Rajah  of  Baroda  at  the  reported  extraordinary 
price  of  $15,000,000,  was,  as  M.  Pierre  Denis  states,  “dis- 
covered by  a negress  engaged  in  washing  clothes  at  the 
riverside.”  Bolivia  supplies  all  the  bismuth  used  in  the 
world,  Brazil  most  of  the  thoi’ium,  one  mine  in  Peru 
four-fifths  of  the  vanadium,  and  Colombia  practically  all 
the  fine  emeralds. 

In  spite  of  the  incessant  exploitation  of  the  mines  of 
Latin  America  for  the  past  four  centuries,  nothing  is  yet 
known  with  certainty  of  their  capacity.  Vast  areas  still 
await  scientific  investigation.  Even  the  possibilities  of 
gold  and  silver  mining  have  not  been  exhausted  nor  as- 
certained with  precision,  and  the  era  of  iron  and  of 
technically  important  minor  metals  has  barely  dawned. 
Whenever  entered  upon,  however,  the  working  of  mining 
properties  in  Latin  America  is  now  carried  on  with  high 
efficiency  and  their  proper  development  is  contingent  only 
on  progressive  discoveries. 

AGRICULTURAL  PRODUCTIVITY 

Were  it  possible  to  make  the  latter  statement  of  Latin 
American  agriculture,  a truly  astounding  production 
could  safely  be  predicted.  Wherever  modern  scientific 
methods  of  agriculture  have  been  applied  consistently 
remarkable  yields  have  been  secured.  Sugar  cane  in  Cuba, 


Changing  Industries 


55 


according  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  Commerce, 
and  Labor  of  the  island,  averaged  last  year  (1920)  a 
gross  return  of  $800  per  acre ; and  the  cane  on  virgin 
land  may  be  cut  without  replanting  for  thirty  years. 
Tobacco  is  planted,  grown,  and  gathered  in  ninety  days. 
Cotton,  which  is  now  the  third  most  important  crop  of 
Peru,  furnishes  in  the  Ganete  valley  an  average  of  553 
pounds  to  the  acre,  and  has  attained  a maximum  of  over 
1300  pounds  in  the  valley  of  Lambayeque.  Five  good 
crops  may  be  obtained  without  replanting,  and  the  cotton 
in  general  is  of  the  finest  grade.  The  better  class  of 
grapes  of  Mendoza,  Argentina,  often  yield  a net  profit 
of  from  $800  to  $1000  per  acre.  In  the  valleys  of  Tacna 
Province,  Chile,  olive-trees  exhibit  a wonderful  fruitful- 
ness, a single  tree  being  reported  to  have  produced  1900 
pounds  of  olives. 

The  degree  to  which  a modern  system  of  cultivation 
and  merchandising  has  expanded  the  banana  industry 
from  the  humblest  beginnings  may  be  gleaned  from  the 
rise  of  the  United  Fruit  Company,  founded  by  Mr.  Minor 
C.  Keith,  to  a commanding  position  in  the  commercial 
world  within  the  short  space  of  some  thirty  years.  A 
similar  expansion  is  possible  in  some  other  tropical  fruits, 
and  especially  in  the  fruits  of  the  temperate  and  sub- 
tropical zones  of  southern  South  America.  The  business 
methods  of  the  California  fruit-growers,  if  transplanted 
to  Chile,  Argentina,  and  southern  Brazil,  would  enable 
those  sections  of  Latin  America  to  supply  our  markets 
plentifully  with  peaches,  pears,  apples,  plums,  nectarines, 
apricots,  melons,  and  grapes — which  mature  there  during 
our  winter  and  early  spring  months — and  to  compete 
strongly  in  Europe  with  other  fruit-growing  countries. 

INTENSIVE  AGRICULTURE 

Under  the  Incas,  the  Aztecs,  the  Mayas,  and  the 
Spaniards  and  Portuguese  of  the  olden  time,  agriculture 
and  mining  followed  a set  routine.  A few  staple  crops 
and  the  precious  metals  absorbed  the  attention  of  natives 
and  conquistadores  alike.  Experiments  were,  indeed, 


56 


Changing  Industries 


made  by  the  Spaniards  and  the  Portuguese — to  whom  we 
have  never  been  just  in  our  appreciation  of  their  gov- 
ernmental policies  and  their  real  contributions  to  Amer- 
ican social  and  economic  progress — but  they  were  rarely 
transformed  into  an  intensive  programme.  The  attitude  on 
the  whole  Avas  that  of  the  peripatetic  prospector  Avho 
scratches  the  surface,  gathers  what  he  can  easily  see,  and 
then  moves  on.  In  Brazil  this  attitude  resulted  in  what 
Miss  L.  E.  Elliott  calls  “revolutions  in  industries,”  by 
reason  of  Avhich  the  dyewood,  gold,  diamond,  and  other 
promising  industries  waxed  and  Avaned  in  the  past,  and, 
to  a certain  extent,  also,  the  rubber  industry  is  shoAving 
a marked  decline  at  the  present  moment.  Superlative 
and  A'aried  Avealth  and  underpopulation  quite  naturally 
lead  to  an  extensive  rather  than  an  intensive  treatment 
of  resources. 

To-day,  thoughtful  Latin  Americans  realize  that  it  is 
necessary  to  dig  deeper  and  to  place  a more  solid  founda- 
tion under  the  future.  An  earnest  of  their  desire  to 
modernize  their  industries  is  seen  in  the  universal  estab- 
lishment of  agricultural,  mining  and  engineering,  trade 
and  vocational  schools  and  in  their  search  for  expert 
scientific  assistance  from  abroad. 

Heretofore,  the  foreign  scientific  experts  called  to  Latin 
America  have  come  from  Europe,  and  principally  from 
Germany.  It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  a decided  prefer- 
ence is  now  being  shoAvn  for  scientists  and  industrial 
investigators  from  the  United  States.  Noav  it  is  Professor 
EdAvard  Green,  the  American  cotton  expert,  Avho  is  chosen 
by  the  Brazilian  Government  to  classify  and  standardize 
the  best  cottons  for  planting  in  Brazil  and  to  advise  the 
Government  as  to  the  most  suitable  regions  for  groAving 
the  different  grades : noAv,  it  is  three  American  specialists 
in  tropical  agriculture  whom  the  Government  of  Ecuador 
asks  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture: 
noAv,  it  is  seAreral  expert  American  stock  judges  Avho  are 
invited  to  Argentina,  and  Avhose  decisions  are  accorded 
the  highest  appreciation:  again,  it  is  Professor  Nels  A. 
Bengston  of  the  University  of  Nebraska  and  other  Amer- 


Changing  Industries 


57 


ican  geologists  whose  opinions  on  oil-lands  are  eagerly- 
requested  by  Latin  American  governments  and  private 
companies. 

An  extension  of  this  deference  to  our  judgment  is  to 
be  seen  in  the  sending  of  Latin  American  specialists  to 
the  United  States  for  study  and  help,  as  in  the  case  of 
Don  Jose  A.  Vivanco,  who  has  been  commissioned  by  the 
Peruvian  Government  to  negotiate  an  interchange  of 
seeds  and  cereals  between  the  United  States  and  Peru, 
and  in  the  attendance  at  our  technical  schools  of  large 
numbers  of  Latin  American  students,  many  of  whom  are 
sent  at  government  expense. 

SALIENT  INDUSTRIES 

The  Latin  American  industries  in  which  the  world  at 
large  is  to-day  showing  the  greatest  interest  and  in  several 
of  which  modern  principles  are  being  most  plainly  ex- 
hibited are  cattle-raising  and  packing,  oil  and  coal  ex- 
ploitation, lumbering,  and  manufacturing.  Some  of  these 
are  new  industries,  whereas  others  are  of  long-standing, 
but  are  undergoing  a radical  change.  The  influence  of 
foreign  ideas  is  observable  in  all  of  them.  Nevertheless, 
it  is  Latin  American  enterprise  which  is  making  all  of 
them  possible,  and  Latin  American  scientific  skill,  indus- 
trial acumen,  and  workmanship  which  are  successfully 
carrying  them  on. 

Cattle-raising  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  industries  in  Latin 
America,  has  long  been  nurtured  with  especial  care  in 
Argentina  and  Uruguay,  and  yet  is  on  the  eve  of  a new 
epoch.  To-day,  Argentina  has  more  cattle  than  any  coun- 
try in  Europe  except  Russia,  and  is,  perhaps,  not  behind 
post-war  Russia.  Argentina  and  Brazil  together  have 
probably  more  cattle  than  the  United  States,  since  Argen- 
tina’s 29,500,000  head  in  1915  and  Brazil’s  30,705,000  in 
1913  have  been  increasing,  while  the  61,804,000  head  in 
the  United  States  in  1910  diminished  to  61,441,000  in  1916, 
and  seem  likely  to  keep  on  decreasing.  Uruguay  and 
Mexico  combined  surpass  the  United  Kingdom  in  numbers 
of  cattle,  and  Uruguay  alone  excels  Canada.  From  the 


58 


Changing  Industries 


few  cattle  brought  over  by  the  Spaniards,  and  in  many 
cases  abandoned  on  the  South  American  and  Mexican 
plains,  has  sprung  the  colossal  industry  which  purveys 
meat  to  the  major  part  of  the  Western  World:  for  on 
our  own  prairies  there  were  no  cattle  in  the  early  part 
of  the  last  century,  and  our  western  herds  were  established 
from  stock  taken  from  the  Mexican  ranges. 

CATTLE-RAISING  IN  ARGENTINA  AND  URUGUAY 

The  prominence  of  Argentina  and  Uruguay  in  cattle- 
raising  and  packing  is  known  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe. 
Enjoying  unequaled  pasturage  and  a benignant  climate, 
Argentinian  and  Uruguayan  cattle  can  hardly  help  pros- 
pering and  increasing  to  the  uttermost  limits  of  the  broad 
pampas.  The  introduction  of  blooded  stock  from  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  and  the  United  States  is  quickly  raising 
the  standard  of  the  native  strain ; and  the  care  with  which 
all  the  minutiae  of  registration  are  followed  and  the  pride 
shown  in  the  ownership  of  cattle  which  have  taken  prizes 
at  the  wonderful  livestock  exhibitions  make  it  certain  that 
no  other  nations  will  soon  Avrest  the  palm  from  Argentina 
and  Uruguay.  The  great  respect  in  which  the  late  Thomas 
Howard,  of  Boston,  has  been  held  in  Uruguay  for  his 
life-long  labors  in  introducing  pedigreed  stock  into 
Uruguay,  and  the  honors  paid  to  his  family,  which  has 
continued  his  work,  testify  to  the  nature  of  the  reigning 
passion  in  southern  South  America.  Cattle  are  regal,  and 
a whole  economic  and  social  evolution  is  largely  condi- 
tioned on  their  welfare.  When  an  Argentine  rancher 
thinks  nothing  of  paying  $35,000  and  $60,000  for  a pure- 
bred bull,  or  $10,00*0  for  a prize  ram,  or  $150,000  for 
Diamond  Jubilee,  King  Edward  VII ’s  magnificent  thor- 
oughbred, we  are  safe  in  assuming  that  cattle-raising  has 
left  its  primitive  state  and  become  one  of  the  fine  arts. 
Distinction  comes  to  Argentinians  and  Uruguayans  merely 
as  a result  of  their  possession  of  unusual  animals,  and 
cattle  dynasties  have  been  potent  social  and  political 
forces  in  the  history  of  both  Argentina  and  Uruguay. 

Hitherto  in  the  United  States,  whenever  mention  has 


PRIZE  WINNERS  FROM  "THE  CAMP. 


Changing  Industries 


59 


been  made  of  cattle-raising  on  a large  scale  in  Latin 
America,  the  only  countries  named  have  been  the  two 
cited  above.  During  the  past  ten  years  this  impression 
of  Argentina’s  and  Uruguay’s  supremacy  has  been  inten- 
sified by  the  construction  there  of  frigorificos  (packing 
plants)  and  the  purchase  of  immense  tracts  of  grazing 
land  by  the  Armour,  the  Swift,  the  Morris,  the  Wilson, 
and  other  American  companies.  Preceding  them  by  nearly 
half  a century,  the  Liebig  company,  whose  extract  of  beef 
is  a household  article,  expanded  mightily  until  now  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  cattle  are  slaughtered  annually  at 
Fray  Bentos  and  the  Liebig  land  holdings  embrace  some- 
thing like  five  million  acres  of  rich  territory. 

Naturally,  the  region  capable  of  appealing  to  such 
powerful  foreign  interests  has  attracted  the  widest  atten- 
tion. But  there  is  no  certainty  that  it  will  always  remain 
the  leader  in  cattle  production,  and  the  signs  point  to 
the  rise  of  new  cattle  districts  of  great  promise. 

NEW  FIELDS  FOR  CATTLE-RAISING 

Paraguay  and  Bolivia,  because  of  their  climate  and 
excellent  pasturage,  and  Mexico,  Venezuela,  Colombia 
and  Peru,  because  of  their  proximity  to  the  United  States, 
should  thrive  as  cattle-raising  countries.  Cattle-raising 
has,  in  fact,  become  the  principal  industry  of  Paraguay, 
American  packing  companies  are  alive  to  its  possibilities, 
and  the  government  is  making  special  efforts  to  stimulate 
the  industry  by  strict  sanitary  regulations  and  by  offering 
excellent  grazing  land  at  from  $1  to  $4  an  acre.  Agricul- 
tural colonies  chiefly  devoted  to  cattle-raising  are  being 
established  in  Bolivia,  and  to  one  of  them  under  the  direc- 
tion of  Mr.  C.  Dunbar  Smith  of  Nebraska  City,  Nebraska, 
a concession  of  17,000  square  miles  is  reported  to  have 
been  granted.  Mexico  now  has  20,000  cattle  ranches 
valued  at  $500,000,000  and  can  provide  ample  room  for 
expansion.  Venezuela,  Colombia,  and  Peru  are  admirably 
adapted  to  cattle-raising,  and  their  strategic  position 
along  the  great  trade  routes  which  are  being  fixed  by 
the  Panama  Canal  should  give  them  the  benefit  of  com- 


60 


Changing  Industries 


paratively  high  prices  and  low  transportation  expenses. 
In  most  of  these  countries,  inducements  approaching  the 
liberality  of  the  Colombian  government,  as  enacted  in  the 
following  recent  law,  obtain: 

Any  person  introducing  into  the  country  pure  breeds  of  cattle, 
horses,  sheep,  pigs,  goats  for  the  exclusive  purpose  of  improving 
the  native  stock  will  be  entitled  to  a reimbursement  from  the 
Government  for  one-third  of  the  value  of  the  animals,  including 
all  expenses  of  examination,  transportation,  feeding,  insurance, 
consular  invoices,  etc. 

Argentinian,  Uruguayan,  Paraguayan,  and  Mexican  ac- 
tualities and  prospects  in  cattle-raising,  nevertheless,  im- 
mense as  they  undoubtedly  are,  fail  to  impress  the  mind 
with  that  sense  of  magnitude  which  ensues  from  a study 
of  the  probable  career  of  the  cattle  industry  in  Brazil. 

BRAZIL,  A COMING  CATTLE  CENTER 

If,  in  1913,  Brazilian  cattle  totaled  over  thirty  million, 
exclusive  of  sheep,  swine,  and  goats,  what  may  it  not 
amount  to  within  a generation  in  consequence  of  the  great 
activity  displayed  by  the  Government,  by  the  numerous 
organizations  of  cattle-raisers  which  are  springing  up, 
and  by  the  huge  packing-plants  erected  by  American  and 
British  interests  since  the  beginning  of  the  European 
War?  Within  that  period,  Armour  and  Company  have 
built  in  Brazil  the  largest  packing  house  in  the  world 
at  a cost  of  $10,000,000,  and  half  a dozen  British  and 
Brazilian  firms,  in  addition  to  Swift  and  Company  and 
Wilson  and  Company,  have  constructed  or  begun  the  con- 
struction of  important  packing  plants. 

Refrigeration  is  so  new  a process  in  Brazil  that  no 
shipment  of  frozen  meats  was  made  until  November,  1914, 
when  one  ton  was  sent  to  England  as  an  experiment.  In 
July,  1915,  the  consignment  which  left  Santos  amounted 
to  205,350  pounds.  During  the  subsequent  six  months, 
over  seventeen  million  pounds  of  refrigerated  meats  were 
cleared  from  the  same  port:  and  during  the  year  1919, 
55,685  tons  of  canned  and  refrigerated  beef  alone  were 
exported  from  Brazil. 


Changing  Industries 


61 


If  comparison  with  Argentina  is  at  all  permissible,  the; 
growth  of  the  industry  in  Brazil  during  the  next  genera- 
tion should  prove  truly  astounding.  Buenos  Aires  made; 
the  first  shipment  of  refrigerated  beef  from  Argentina  in 
1877 — forty-four  years  ago:  and  that  shipment  consisted 
of  only  80  tons.  By  1915  Argentinian  exports  of  animals 
and  animal  products  had  risen  to  over  $218,000,000,  or 
about  forty  per  cent  of  the  total  exports.  The  exports  of 
Argentina  in  1919  came  to  $867,823,000  and  if  the  1915 
ratio  just  cited  has  held  good,  the  value  of  the  exports 
of  animals  and  animal  products  must  have  been  close  to 
one-third  of  a billion  dollars — a distinct  increase,  indeed, 
over  the  price  received  for  the  80  tons  shipped  in  1877, 
or  the  $1680  received  for  the  total  exports  of  refrigerated 
beef  in  1885,  plus  the  value  of  any  additional  animal 
products  exported  by  Argentina  forty-four  years  ago. 

AMERICAN  PACKERS  IN  BRAZIL 

The  new  factor  cropping  out  in  the  modern  cattle' 
situation  in  Brazil  is  that  American  enterprise  has  been 
able  to  enter  the  field  without  the  handicap  of  a long 
tradition  of  “favored  nations”  to  overcome.  The  packing 
industry  started  with  the  Companhia  Frigorifica  e Pas- 
toril  organized  at  Barretos  by  Dr.  Antonio  de  Silva  Prado 
in  1913  for  the  provisioning  of  Sao  Paulo  with  chilled 
meats,  and  shortly  thereafter  the  Armours,  the  Swifts, 
the  Wilsons  made  plans  to  establish  packing  centers  in 
the  republic,  and  especially  in  the  States  of  Rio  Grande 
do  Sul  and  Sao  Paulo. 

In  equipment,  methods,  management,  and  plans  for  the 
future,  the  American  packers  start  out  with  a clean  slate. 
Already  they  are  energetically  setting  about  inculcating 
the  latest  scientific  principles  of  cattle-raising,  packing, 
and  shipping,  improving  the  native  stock  by  crossing  it 
with  pure-bred  Herefords  or  Short  horns,  getting  the  most 
out  of  the  by-products,  and  teaching  the  value  of  attrac- 
tive presentation  for  the  market. 

The  acquisition  of  high-priced  experts  has  been  one  of 
the  first  steps  taken  b^  these  immense  foreign  interests, 


62 


Cha ngi ng  I n dustries 


and  should  result  in  the  opening  of  excellent  positions  for 
qualified  graduates  of  our  agricultural  colleges.  Mr. 
Murdo  Mackenzie,  a former  Texas  cattleman,  until  re- 
cently the  manager  of  the  Morungava  ranch  of  the  Brazil 
Land,  Cattle  and  Packing  Company,  which  owns  five  mil- 
lion acres  of  land  in  Brazil  and  about  four  million  in 
Bolivia,  was  paid  £10,000  a year  for  his  technical  knowl- 
edge and  business  ability,  and  had  under  him  a large  staff 
of  highly  capable  Texans  and  Coloradans. 

Through  its  natural  advantages  in  climate,  extent  of 
grazing  territory,  and  river  transportation,  and  through 
American  initiative  displayed  in  the  industry,  Brazil  rests 
assured  of  developing  into  one  of  the  great  cattle-raising 
and  packing  centers  of  the  world,  if  not  the  greatest. 

LATIN  AMERICA’S  PART  IN  THE  ODYSSEY  OF  OIL 

The  petroleum  industry  presents  aspects  similar  to 
those  noted  in  the  cattle  industry.  Apparently  restricted 
to  one  area,  Mexico,  before  the  war,  it  has  been  found  to 
have  ramifications  throughout  Latin  America.  Individual 
fortunes  have  already  been  made  by  foreigners  from  Latin 
American  oil,  the  most  remarkable  being  that  of  Mr. 
Edward  L.  Doheny,  of  San  Francisco  and  Los  Angeles, 
president  of  the  Pan  American  Petroleum  and  Transport 
Co.,  the  Mexican  Petroleum  Co.,  Ltd.,  the  Huasteca  Petro- 
leum Co.,  etc. : and  governments  have  engaged  in  strenuous 
efforts  to  secure  preferential  rights. 

Without  Mexican  oil,  the  British  Navy  could  not  have 
functioned  freely  during  the  war,  and  the  activity  of  the 
automobile  industry  in  many  countries  would  be  para- 
lyzed. To  England,  especially,  and  in  no  small  degree 
to  the  United  States,  Latin  American  oil  has  come  to  be 
a most  important  factor  in  economic  development. 

To  the  reflective  mind,  Latin  American  petroleum  offers 
another  beautiful  illustration  of  the  ability  of  that  “most 
promising  of  the  undeveloped  sections  of  the  world,”  as 
it  is  called  by  Mr.  0.  P.  Austin,  statistician  of  the  National 
City  Bank  of  New  York  and  secretary  of  the  National 


Changing  Industries 


63 


Geographic  Society,  to  supply  the  world  at  critical  mo- 
ments with  what  it  requires  most. 

"When  the  world  hungered  for  the  precious  metals,  gold 
and  silver,  with  an  intensity  never  before  known,  Latin 
America  out  of  its  bountiful  stores  enriched  Spain  and  the 
rest  of  Europe,  one  district  alone,  that  of  Potosi  in  Bolivia, 
yielding  about  $3,000,000,000  in  silver  and  the  gold  mines 
of  that  single  country  producing  the  almost  equally 
fabulous  sum  of  $2,500,000,000.  As  cereals,  meats,  wool, 
rubber,  and  coffee  become  primary  obsessions  of  civiliza- 
tion, Latin  America  took  a front  rank  in  those  articles. 
Now  that  petroleum  represents  one  of  the  world’s  greatest 
needs,  Latin  America  again  comes  forward,  this  time  to 
replenish  the  visibly  failing  reservoirs  of  other  parts  of 
the  world : and  foreign  politics  in  Latin  America,  which 
is  usually  guided  by  the  development  of  some  great  native 
resource,  is  in  many  of  the  republics  becoming  a politics 
of  petroleum. 

In  the  Odyssey  of  oil  in  the  Western  Hemisphere, 
Mexico,  of  course,  has  furnished  the  most  thrilling  stage 
after  the  United  States.  Its  production  has  risen  from 
21,188,247  barrels  in  1914  to  159,800,000  barrels  in  1920. 

The  external  and  internal  affairs  of  the  republic  have 
been  determined  to  a great  extent  by  the  sustained  yield 
of  the  oil  deposits  and  the  successive  discoveries  of  new 
fields.  British  and  American  companies  with  tremendous 
capitalizations  have  vied  desperately  with  one  another, 
making  use  of  all  possible  private  and  governmental  agen- 
cies for  strengthening  their  position.  The  attitude  of  a 
Mexican  president  toward  foreign  petroleum  conces- 
sionaires has  had  more  to  do  with  the  question  of  the 
recognition  of  his  administration  by  the  United  States 
than  anything  else.  New  cities  have  arisen,  new  ports 
have  been  opened,  new  living  conditions  have  resulted — 
the  cost  of  living  in  Tampico  being  probably  higher  than 
in  most  of  the  metropolitan  cities  of  the  world — a new 
population  of  diverse  foreign  ingredients  has  been  created, 
as  the  direct  result  of  petroleum  activity  in  Mexico. 

But  Mexico  is  not  the  only  great  petroliferous  area  in 


64 


Changing  Industries 


Latin  America,  and  the  epic  of  oil  has  begun  to  blazon 
forth  the  merits  of  other  protagonists.  According  to  Mr. 
Eugene  Stebinger,  of  the  Geological  Department  of  the 
United  States,  the  amount  of  oil  ultimately  available  in 
the  different  countries  in  which  petroleum  is  obtained  in 
considerable  quantities,  is  as  follows : 


United  States  and  Alaska 7,000,000,000  barrels 

Mexico  4,525,000,000  “ 

Northern  South  America,  including  Peru. . 5,730,000,000  “ 

Southern  South  America,  including  Bolivia  3,550,000,000  “ 

Southeastern  Russia,  southeastern  Siberia, 

and  the  Caucasus  region 5,830,000,000  u 

Persia  and  Mesopotamia 5,820,000,000  “ 


In  other  words,  Latin  America,  on  the  basis  of  this  cal- 
culation, is  regarded  by  authorities  as  able  to  produce 
twice  as  much  oil  as  the  United  States  and  more  than 
twice  as  much  as  either  of  the  other  great  divisions  men- 
tioned. Since  operations  in  Latin  America  outside  of 
Mexico  are  still  in  an  embryonic  state,  the  oil  history  of 
Mexico  should  at  some  future  date  repeat  itself  in  such 
countries  as  Peru,  Bolivia,  Venezuela,  Argentina,  Ecuador, 
Brazil,  Uruguay,  Paraguay,  Colombia,  Central  America, 
and  the  West  Indies. 

Without  doubt,  the  procedure  followed  in  Mexico  by 
individuals  and  by  the  great  industrial  governments  will 
be  duplicated  in  these  countries.  The  outcome,  however, 
will  vary  with  each  country,  in  some  coinciding  with  the 
results  which  have  been  observed  in  Mexico,  but  in  others 
having  a totally  different  complexion  because  of  the  es- 
tablishment of  government  oil  reservations  and  the  desire 
to  keep  the  profits  of  the  business  in  the  hands  of 
native  sons. 

A concomitant  of  such  action  will  be  a new  bent  in 
the  Latin  American  diplomacy  of  the  United  States,  Eng- 
land, and  one  or  two  other  great  industrial  countries 
whose  need  of  oil  is  now  becoming  acute  and  impossible 
of  satisfaction  through  the  supplies  within  their  own 
borders  or  at  present  under  their  control. 

From  Mexico  southward,  oil  is  found  in  varying  quan- 


Changing  Industries 


65 


tities  in  every  one  of  the  Latin  American  republics,  in- 
cluding the  Central  American  countries  and  Cuba.  Almost 
daily,  new  discoveries  are  announced,  and  each  discovery 
leads  to  the  formation  of  numerous  companies,  occasion- 
ally inspired  by  nothing  stronger  than  hope  and  the 
eagerness  to  participate  in  the  most  rapid  and  dazzling 
of  alchemies. 

Usually,  exploration  by  private  companies  is  welcomed 
by  the  governments,  but  sometimes,  as  in  Guatemala,  the 
government  exercises  strict  control  over  all  oil  existing 
within  its  jurisdiction.  There  is  a growing  tendency, 
however,  on  the  part  of  the  governments  of  all  the  smaller 
countries  to  add  to  their  revenue  by  levying  a royalty 
on  the  returns  of  companies  to  whom  concessions  have 
been  granted.  Thus,  in  Costa  Rica,  the  government  will 
receive  ten  per  cent  of  the  yield  of  the  Cahuita  deposits, 
which  are  expected  to  have  a minimum  flow  of  50,000 
barrels  per  day  and  will,  at  present  prices,  add  $25,000 
daily  to  the  national  treasury,  and  a concession  on  the 
basis  of  a royalty  to  the  government  of  seven  per  cent  of 
the  crude  product  obtained  in  the  provinces  of  Limon, 
Puntarenas,  and  Guanacaste  has  been  made  to  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  of  California. 

In  Panama  an  American  firm  has  signed  a lease  for 
a period  of  90  years  for  large  oil  holdings  in  the  Province 
of  Chiriqui.  Three  oil  concessions  are  in  force  in  Hon- 
duras. Cuban  and  American  interests  are  vigorously 
prosecuting  the  search  for  oil  in  Cuba,  and  the  Compania 
Cubana  de  Petroleo  de  Vuelta  Aba  jo  has  acquired  several 
valuable  properties  in  the  province  of  Pinar  del  Rio.  In 
these  countries,  many  of  the  contracts  stipulate  that  the 
favored  companies  shall  invest  a certain  amount  of  capital 
within  a specified  period,  and  this  commonly  means  almost 
immediately  large  local  expenditures,  benefiting  the  par- 
ticular district  and  the  country  in  general,  in  the  employ- 
ment of  labor,  the  construction  of  roads  and  railways, 
docks,  and  telephones,  the  purchase  of  such  supplies  as 
do  not  have  to  be  imported,  and  the  maintenance  of  the 
plant. 


66 


Changing  Industries 


In  many  particulars,  even  in  these  smaller  republics 
needful  of  ready  money  and  inexperienced  in  oil  tech- 
nology, legislation  is  seriously  retarding  oil  development 
by  the  imposition  of  heavy  restrictions  and  too  high  a 
rate  of  taxation  on  individuals  and  companies  taking  up 
leases.  The  short-sightedness  of  the  policy  is  patent,  for 
it  discourages  enterprise,  sets  a definite  limit  on  expecta- 
tions, and  creates  an  impression  of  narrow  local  selfish- 
ness. The  Latin  American  penchant  for  making  an  ad- 
ministrative monopoly  of  the  chief  public  utilities,  or 
resources — a survival  ’ of  outworn  Spanish  practices — is 
particularly  deplorable  in  those  republics  in  which  public 
opinion  is  not  as  yet  strong  enough  to  check  the  ambitions 
of  a dominating  party  or  political  leader. 

Those  republics,  too,  which  are  animated  by  the  praise- 
worthy  motives  of  promoting  national  industries  through 
national  channels  and  of  utilizing  their  petroleum  wealth 
with  the  aim  of  reducing  the  taxes  of  their  inhabitants 
are  in  reality  condemning  to  inactivity  one  of  their  most 
precious  latent  resources.  Though  desirous  as  never  be- 
fore of  attracting  foreign  capital  for  national  develop- 
ment, not  only  Colombia  and  Bolivia,  but  even  Peru  and 
Argentina  are  placing  serious  obstacles,  either  through 
difficult  regulations  or  through  prohibitive  taxes,  in  the 
path  of  oil  interests  perfectly  willing  to  comply  with  rea- 
sonable requirements. 

The  example  of  the  shipment  of  Mexican  oil  to  the 
Russian  port  of  Batoum,  which  is  the  normal  outlet  for  a 
vast  petroliferous  area,  but  cannot  supply  its  own  needs 
because  of  the  paralyzing  oil  policy  of  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment, should  point  a moral  to  many  of  the  Latin  American 
republics.  The  monopolistic  attitude  of  old  Spain  and  of 
some  modern  Latin  American  politicians  is  one  of  the 
gravest  deterrents  to  progress  in  some  portions  of  Latin 
America. 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  appearances,  the  petroleum 
policy  of  Argentina,  and  perhaps  of  Peru,  has  many 
merits,  may  prove  as  advantageous  to  everybody  in- 
terested in  oil  in  the  long  run  as  ours,  and  contains  co- 


Changing  Industries 


67 


operative  features  new  to  that  branch  of  industry.  That 
neither  government  excludes  private  exploitation  is 
demonstrated  by  the  negotiations  of  Argentina  with  Lord 
Cowdray  whereby  $25,000,000  of  British  capital  is  to  be 
provided  for  developing  and  extending  the  borings  at 
Comodoro  Rivadavia,  Territory  of  Chubut,  by  the  forma- 
tion of  several  Swedish  companies  for  operations  in  the 
same  field,  by  the  organization  of  the  Compania  Inicial 
de  Petroleo  de  Mendoza  to  work  deposits  in  the  Province 
of  Mendoza,  near  the  boundary  of  Neuquen,  by  the  ac- 
tivities in  Peru  of  the  London  and  Pacific  Petroleum 
Company,  which  has  a total  of  1314  wells  at  Lagunitas, 
Negritos,  and  La  Brea,  and  the  largest  refinery  on  the 
West  Coast  south  of  Panama,  at  Talara,  and  by  the  recent 
acquisition  by  the  Braden  interests  of  over  5,000,000  acres 
of  petroliferous  territory  in  Bolivia. 

The  criticisms  leveled  at  the  Argentine  Government 
for  its  segregation  of  the  Comodoro  Rivadavia  fields  and 
certain  districts  in  the  Territory  of  Neuquen  as  national 
reservations  apparently  leave  out  of  account  the  fact  that 
private  firms  can  establish  themselves  just  beyond  the 
government  reservations  and  that,  though  all  oil  lands 
may  become  State  property,  the  State  may,  and  does, 
empower  private  organizations  to  function,  giving  the 
preference,  wherever  possible,  to  those  important  to  the 
public  welfare. 

The  declaration  of  Dr.  Tomas  A.  Le  Breton  before  the 
American  Petroleum  Institute  at  Washington  presents  in 
its  true  light  the  position  of  the  Argentine  Government 
and  shows  that  practical  necessity,  and  not  hostility  to 
private  enterprise,  underlies  the  measures  which  have 
been  adopted.  Nobody  disposed  to  a fair  appreciation 
■of  international  actions  can  take  exception  to  the  follow- 
ing reasons  Avhich  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  oil 
reservations  in  the  districts  of  Comodoro  Rivadavia  and 
Neuquen:  1.  the  lack  of  interest  in  the  distant  Argentine 
fields  when,  in  1912,  government  agents  in  search  of  water 
accidentally  discovered  the  oil  deposits;  2.  the  deficiency 
in  coal  and  the  necessity  of  depending  on  England  and 


68 


Changing  Industries 


on  the  United  States  without  adequate  assurance  of  its 
delivery  on  time  or  in  sufficient  quantities;  3.  the  fuel 
requirements  of  the  navy,  the  national  railways,  and  the 
department  of  public  service  and  sanitation. 

Dr.  Le  Breton  might  have  fortified  his  argument,  too, 
by  citing  President  Roosevelt’s  opinion,  courageously 
uttered  in  the  face  of  hostile  private  interests,  that  mineral 
fields,  like  the  forests  and  navigable  streams,  should  be 
treated  as  public  utilities. 

So  little  inclined,  indeed,  is  the  Argentine  Government 
to  restrict  the  output  of  petroleum  that  it  has  recently 
voted  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pesos  for  investiga- 
tions in  the  Plaza  Huincul  fields  in  the  south  of  the 
Province  of  Buenos  Aires,  has  nearly  doubled  the  produc- 
tion of  the  Comodoro  Rivadavia  deposits  in  1921  as  com- 
pared with  the  record  yield  of  1920,  is  contracting  for 
new  storage  tanks  and  tank  steamers,  is  encouraging  the 
borings  of  private  operators  in  territory  adjacent  to  the 
Government  areas,  and  is  planning  soon  to  become  an 
exporter  of  petroleum  to  foreign  markets.  It  is  going 
even  further  and  entering  into  arrangements  with  the 
Bolivian  Government  to  carry  out  railway  projects  for 
the  exploitation  of  the  immense  oil  belt  extending  south- 
ward from  the  eastern  states  of  Bolivia  into  the  adjacent 
provinces  of  Argentina  and  northward  into  Peru. 

Bolivia,  though  potentially  one  of  the  richest  petroleum 
regions  in  Latin  America,  has  not  exported  any  oil,  owing 
to  a natural  and  an  artificial  barrier. 

The  natural  barrier  is  formed  by  the  mountains  on  the 
west,  toward  the  Pacific,  and  by  the  forests  of  the  Amazon 
and  the  desert-lands  of  the  Gran  Chaco  on  the  east  and 
southeast.  The  artificial  barrier  has  been  erected  by  the 
Government  itself. 

From  its  reasonable  requirement  in  1916  of  a land-tax 
and  ten  per  cent  of  the  gross  output  of  petroleum,  it  has, 
in  1920,  joined  the  more  short-sighted  countries  in  petro- 
leum regulations  by  increasing  its  share  of  the  gross 
output  to  twelve  and  a half  per  cent,  by  specifying  that 
twenty  per  cent  of  the  net  profits  from  deposits  on  fiscal 


69 


Changing  Industries 

lands  shall  be  paid  into  the  departmental  treasury,  by 
reserving  the  right,  as  United  States  Trade  Commissioner 
W.  L.  Schurz  points  out,  “to  expropriate  the  oil  land 
to  such  an  extent  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  to  supply 
the  domestic  demand  for  oil,  20  years  after  date  of  the 
contract,”  and  by  expressly  stating  that  “At  the  termina- 
tion of  50  to  66  years  of  working  by  the  concessionaire, 
such  oil  lands  as  may  not  have  been  expropriated  shall 
revert  to  the  Bolivian  Government,”  together  with  the 
equipment  installed  by  the  concessionaire. 

Formidable  as  these  conditions  are,  they  have  not 
frightened  off  all  exploitation.  Chilean  interests,  which 
disposed  of  a large  portion  of  their  holdings  to  American 
capitalists,  still  control  some  300,000  acres  of  oil-bearing 
lands  in  the  Beni  Valley  and  along  the  Arica-La  Paz  Rail- 
way. The  Anglo-Persian  Petroleum  Company  is  prepar- 
ing to  work  its  concession  in  the  Province  of  Caupolican, 
which  belongs  to  the  Department  of  La  Paz,  and  consti- 
tutes a petroliferous  zone  of  over  two  million  acres.  One 
American  corporation,  which  has  vast  copper  properties 
in  Chile,  has  paid  nearly  $4,000,000  for  the  greater  part 
of  the  five  million  acres  in  the  Lagunillas  field  previously 
held  by  the  Chilean  interests,  and  another  American  com- 
pany has  a concession  of  several  million  acres  in  the  De- 
partment of  Santa  Cruz  which  it  is  to  operate  with  an 
invested  capital  of  $10,000,000. 

Two  interesting  facts  worthy  of  special  note  are  that 
Argentinian  and  Chilean  capitalists  are  actively  occupied 
in  foreign  oil  investments  and  that  in  Bolivia,  as  in  Mexico 
and  Peru,  American  and  British  financial  organizations 
have  entered  the  field  while  it  is  in  a pioneer  state  and 
are  likely  to  hold  their  dominating  position  in  these  great- 
est of  Latin  American  petroliferous  areas. 

Venezuela  and  Colombia  are  both  particularly  well 
situated  for  rapid  development  in  petroleum  production 
and  exportation  by  reason  of  their  proximity  to  the 
shipping  route  established  by  the  Panama  Canal,  and  are 
both  rich  in  oil.  American  interests,  while  not  as 
prominent  as  yet  in  Venezuela  as  British  interests,  cannot 


70 


Changing  Industries 


long  remain  inactive  in  the  face  of  the  possibilities  of  the 
Lake  Maracaibo  region,  which,  it  is  predicted  by  some 
authorities,  is  destined  to  rival  the  Tampico  fields.  As 
early  as  1910,  English  capitalists  began  negotiations  for 
a concession  of  three  thousand  square  miles  east  and  west 
of  Lake  Maracaibo,  and  have  since  secured  the  grant 
and  drilled  a number  of  wells.  Subsequently,  another 
grant  of  the  same  size  was  obtained  in  the  State  of  Falcon, 
northeast  of  the  lake  and  fronting  on  the  Caribbean  Sea, 
and  another  company  formed,  both  the  concessions  men- 
tioned resulting  from  the  privilege  given  to  the  represen- 
tative of  the  General  Asphalt  Company  to  explore  almost 
half  of  the  northern  section  of  the  country  and  to  choose 
districts  for  exploitation.  Other  oil  regions  have  been 
opened  up,  production  is  being  carried  on  at  a satisfactory 
rate — 500,000  barrels  of  petroleum  having  been  produced 
in  Venezuela  in  1920 — local  refineries  have  been  built,  a 
large  refinery  has  Been  constructed  by  an  English  cor- 
poration on  the  Dutch  island  of  Curasao,  off  the  coast 
of  Venezuela,  the  English  concessionaires  are  planning  t'o 
invest  over  $50,000,000  in  their  Venezuelan  properties  as 
soon  as  an  agreement  can  be  reached  with  regard  to  cer- 
tain restrictions,  and  the  increasing  number  of  auto- 
mobiles, for  which  better  roads  are  being  laid  out,  and 
the  railroads  are  already  consuming  in  considerable  quan- 
tities the  oil  actually  produced. 

The  indications  along  the  Magdalena  River  in  Colombia 
point  to  the  existence  of  one  of  the  major  petroleum  areas 
of  Latin  America,  the  oil  regions  in  the  Department  of 
Santander  alone  having  a length  of  one  hundred  miles 
and  a width  of  sixty  miles.  In  this  distinct,  the  Tropical 
Oil  Company,  an  American  corporation,  is  energetically 
prosecuting  exploration  and  production  and  is  obligated 
by  the  terms  of  its  agreement  to  maintain  a refinery  of 
sufficient  capacity  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  country, 
to  turn  over  to  the  Government  ten  per  cent  of  its  gross 
products,  and  to  work  the  deposits  permanently,  under 
penalty  of  recission  of  the  contract.  Its  chief  operations 
are  at  present  being  carried  on  in  the  neighborhood  of 


Changing  Industries 


71 


Barranca  Bermeja,  Santander,  to  which  town  it  has  laid 
pipe  lines.  Of  the  thirty-seven  foreign  companies  which 
have  already  acquired  oil  lands  in  Colombia — the  most 
important  being  the  Tropical  Oil  Company,  the  Interna- 
tional Petroleum  Company,  the  Carib  Syndicate,  and  the 
Cities  Service — the  majority  are  sponsored  by  United 
States  capital  and  managed  by  American  experts. 

Taking  into  account  Colombia’s  advantageous  location 
near  the  Panama  Canal,  the  feasibility  of  transporting 
the  petroleum  by  way  of  the  Magdalena  River — the 
steamers  on  which  will  undoubtedly  be  converted  to  the 
oil-burning  type — and  the  short  distance  of  the  country 
from  the  United  States,  the  future  of  Colombian  petroleum 
may  already  be  considered  on  a stable  footing. 

The  insatiable  demand  for  oil  by  commerce  and  by 
governments  foreshadows  unusual  activity  in  the  larger 
regions  already  discussed  and  in  the  less  developed  but 
potential  fields  of  Ecuador,  Uruguay,  Cuba,  and  Brazil 
within  a short  period. 

If  the  report  of  a Rumanian  engineer,  who  states  that 
he  has  discovered  oil  deposits  on  the  island  of  Nova 
Borpeba,  in  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  of  Bahia,  Brazil, 
capable  of  producing  half  as  much  petroleum  as  the 
eastern  portion  of  the  United  States,  is  accurate,  Brazil 
may  surprise  the  world  again  by  the  variety  and  magni- 
tude of  its  resources. 

Besides  forcing  the  attention  of  foreigners  on  Latin 
America  and  compelling  Latin  American  governments  to 
exploit  their  petroleum  regions  or  to  permit  foreign 
capital  to  exploit  them,  the  presence  of  oil  in  large 
amounts  in  almost  every  Latin  American  republic  offers 
a solution  to  a problem  vital  to  the  future  welfare  of 
Latin  America  as  a whole. 

The  evolution  of  Latin  America  can  never  be  complete 
without  a high  development  of  the  manufacturing  indus- 
tries: and  these  industries  are  dependent  on  fuel,  water- 
power, and  iron.  The  principal  countries  are  abundantly 
supplied  with  the  means  for  creating  water-power,  and 
Brazil,  Argentina,  and  Uruguay  have  under  consideration 


72 


Changing  Industries 


an  international  power  plant  on  the  Uruguay  Kiver,  where 
2,500,000,000  kilowatt  hours  per  annum  representing  an 
energy  equivalent  to  that  of  3,000,000  tons  of  coal,  could 
be  developed.  Many  of  the  republics  have  vast  iron  de- 
posits. One  section  of  Cuba  contains  300,000,000  tons 
of  excellent  ore,  the  Tofo  district  of  Chile  shows  100,- 
000,000  tons  of  Bessemer-grade  ore  and  the  Atacama 
region,  500,000,000  tons,  and  Brazil’s  deposits  have  been 
estimated  at  4,000,000,000  tons.  Venezuela  and  Cuba  both 
ship  in  the  neighborhood  of  1,000,000  tons  of  iron  ore 
annually,  but  the  quantity  is  insignificant  when  compared 
with  the  extant  wealth  of  the  mineral,  and  is  held  to  such 
low  figures  primarily  because  of  poor  transportation  and 
the  small  amount  of  coal  mined.  Until  the  water-power 
is  created  and  coal  made  available  in  sufficient  quantities, 
oil  may  serve  as  the  transition  motive-power  for  manu- 
facturing and  transportation  purposes,  to  be  followed 
later  by  the  development  of  coal. 

COAL  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

Latin  America  at  present  derives  most  of  its  coal  from 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States:  but  it  cannot  con- 
tinue to  rely  for  such  an  essential  product  on  the  foreign 
supply  if  its  industries,  which  are  beginning  to  loom  large 
in  its  economic  life,  are  to  flourish.  The  war  has  taught 
Argentina,  Brazil,  Uruguay,  and  Chile  that  during  world 
crises  they  may  be  shut  off  absolutely  from  coal  receipts 
from  abroad,  and  that  the  price  paid  even  in  normal 
times  may  prove  an  insupportable  tax  on  industries.  In 
1919  Peruvian  consumers  bought  56,761  tons  of  coal, 
chiefly  from  Great  Britain,  for  $2,233,082,  or  at  the  rate 
of  forty  dollars  a ton,  in  spite  of  the  local  production 
of  more  than  one-third  of  a million  tons.  In  the  interior 
of  Bolivia,  foreign  coal  brings  as  high  as  seventy  or 
seventy-five  dollars  a ton,  yet  must  be  purchased  for  the 
prosecution  of  work  in  the  mining  industry. 

A natural  conclusion  would  be  that  Nature  has  omitted 
one  of  its  greatest  gifts  from  its  bounty  to  Latin  America, 
and  that  manufacturing  must  either  be  subjected 


Changing  Industries 


73 


permantly  to  the  hazards  of  a foreign  supply  or  to  the 
rate  of  progress  in  the  utilization  of  petroleum  or  water- 
power. The  situation,  however,  is  not  quite  as  bad  as 
that. 

Coal  exists,  in  fact,  in  most  of  the  Latin  American 
countries,  and  should  eventually  take  care  of  most  of 
the  home  markets,  particularly  since  its  use  for  domestic 
heating  purposes  is  almost  unknown  and,  though  con- 
venient during  the  cooler  months  in  the  southern  part 
of  South  America,  not  an  absolute  requirement,  and  thus 
far,  not  a national  habit. 

The  most  important  deposits  of  coal  are  found  in 
Mexico,  Chile,  Colombia,  and  Peru.  There  is  no  reason 
why  these  districts,  lying  at  accessible  intervals  along 
the  whole  length  of  Latin  America,  should  not  gradually 
furnish  coal  to  the  neighboring  countries,  as  Brazil  began 
to  do  in  1916  by  initial  shipments  to  Argentina.  Mexico 
with  an  annual  production  of  about  one  million  tons  and 
extensive  deposits  nearly  untouched,  has  already  reached 
the  stage  when  it  can  plan  to  ship  coal  to  other  countries, 
and  several  companies  in  Coahuila  have  lately  sought  the 
permission  of  the  Government  to  export  some  of  their 
surplus  product  to  the  United  States. 

While  no  unusual  claims  are  made  by  well  informed 
persons  for  the  coal  resources  of  Latin  America,  its  de- 
posits of  this  combustible  are  recognized  by  them  to  be 
much  more  extensive  and  to  cover  a much  greater  area 
than  the  general  public  has  any  conception  of. 

Coal  is  now  mined  in  different  parts  of  Mexico,  and  the 
visible  supply  of  one  section  in  the  State  of  Coahuila  is 
authoritatively  estimated  at  300,000,000  tons : it  is  widely 
distributed  over  Guatemala,  Honduras,  and  Nicaragua : 
and  new  discoveries,  such  as  the  finding  of  a considerable 
deposit  in  the  Department  of  Chontales,  Nicaragua,  are 
made  from  time  to  time,  though  little  prospecting  takes 
place.  Western  Venezuela  possesses  excellent  coal  in 
quantity,  the  bed  of  Lake  Maracaibo  is  said  to  contain 
a large  area  of  coal,  and  in  1919  the  mines  of  the  State 
of  Anzoategui  produced  25,559,490  kilos. 


74 


Changing  Industries 


Colombia  is  an  especially  promising  field.  The  coal 
deposits  extend  along  the  western  side  of  the  republic 
from  north  to  south  and  take  in  the  regions  of  the  San 
Jorge  River  and  the  Cauca  Valley.  They  are  being  worked 
in  the  Departments  of  El  Valle,  Cundinamarca,  and  along 
the  bank  of  the  San  Jorge,  and  constitute  a much  more 
economical  supply  than  can  be  obtained  from  the  United 
States  or  Great  Britain.  On  the  San  Jorge,  the  cost  of 
mining  is  not  above  $.50  per  ton,  and  the  cost  of  barging 
to  Barranquilla  not  over  $6  per  ton,  thus  enabling  local 
operators  to  furnish  coal  to  Barranquilla  and  the  rail- 
roads of  the  district  at  a lower  price  than  is  now  being 
paid  in  our  Middle  Western  states.  Many  of  the  deposits 
are  quite  near  the  coast,  and  will  unquestionably  become 
increasingly  valuable  with  the  construction  of  several 
railroads  already  projected  and  the  demand  by  ships  tak- 
ing the  Panama  route.  So  thoroughly  convinced  are  some 
British  experts  of  the  bright  prospects  awaiting  the  coal- 
mining districts  of  Colombia  that  they  have  ceased  to 
regard  the  country  as  an  important  market  for  British 
coal. 

The  interior  of  Ecuador  contains  extensive  coal  fields 
in  which  little  work  has  been  done.  Peru’s  coal  deposits 
include  much  anthracite,  the  best  being  found  in  the 
Huayday  district : and  the  Cerro  de  Pasco,  Yauri,  Huan- 
cayo,  Chimbote,  and  Moquegua  regions  either  produce  or 
will  soon  be  producing  most  of  the  Peruvian  coal  used 
for  commercial  purposes.  In  1903  only  36,920  tons  were 
produced,  but  by  1917  the  output  had  risen  to  353,595 
tons — a striking  increase,  considering  the  small  amount 
of  attention  which  coal  exploitation  receives.  Most  of  the 
production  is  now  consumed  by  the  mining  industry  and 
by  the  Peruvian  and  British  navies:  but  the  establishment 
of  more  manufacturing  industries  will  necessarily  stimu- 
late coal-mining,  and  the  opening  of  coal  reserves  will 
without  doubt  encourage  the  upbuilding  of  more  in- 
dustries. 

How  plentiful  and  close  to  the  surface  coal  is  in  some 
portions  of  Peru  is  suggested  by  an  observation  noted  by 


Changing  Industries 


75 


Mr.  C.  W.  Domville-Fife  and  other  travelers:  “A  curious 
sight,  which  further  demonstrates  the  extraordinary 
abundance  of  coal  in  this  region,  may  occasionally  be 
seen  from  the  decks  of  passing  steamers — the  waves  beat- 
ing against  the  cliffs  and  rolling  back  blackened  by  coal 
dust.” 

How  much  coal  will  ultimately  be  discovered  in  Brazil 
cannot  even  be  guessed  at  now,  on  account  of  the 
enormous  extent  of  territory  still  unexplored.  But  it  is 
actually  being  mined  in  considerable  quantities  in  the 
southern  states  and  will  awaken  keen  interest  if  the  high 
price  of  United  States  and  British  coal  continues  much 
longer.  Even  if  the  plans  for  harnessing  the  tremendous 
water-power  of  the  rivers  and  falls  should  materialize 
within  a short  time — a great  deal  of  which  has  been 
accomplished,  resulting  in  the  electrification  not  only  of 
populous  cities  but  also  of  obscure  villages  in  remote  dis- 
tricts— the  demand  for  coal  will  continue  to  be  heavy, 
and  the  growing  industries  and  the  increasing  number  of 
railroad  lines  are  scarcely  likely  to  remain  forever  at  the 
mercy  of  foreign  coal,  so  often  intermittent  because  of 
nation-wide  strikes,  and  sometimes  almost  absolutely 
unobtainable. 

The  foremost  Latin  American  country  in  the  exploita- 
tion of  coal,  though  not,  perhaps,  in  the  amount  of  its 
coal  reserves,  is  Chile : and  the  attention  paid  to  this 
industry  has  had  vital  national  consequences.  Before 
the  construction  of  the  Panama  Canal,  Chile  was  so  far 
from  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  that  its  navy, 
which  has  made  it  the  preponderating  power  on  the  West 
Coast,  and  its  railroads  could  not  have  functioned  effec- 
tively if  they  had  been  obliged  to  rely  solely  on  foreign 
coal  supplies.  Chile  was,  therefore,  driven  to  developing 
fuel  deposits  of  its  own. 

Fortunately,  the  existence  of  the  coal  mines  at  Lota 
was  early  known,  and  their  working  dates  back  to  1852. 
Since  that  time,  coal  has  been  mined  along  the  whole 
coastal  region  of  the  southern  half  of  the  republic,  the 
deposits  at  Lota,  where  the  galleries  extend  for  half  a 


76 


Changing  Industries 


mile  under  the  sea,  and  at  Coronel,  being  the  most 
celebrated.  In  recent  years,  the  coal  exploration  has  gone 
as  far  south  as  Loreto,  near  Punta  Arenas,  and  as  far 
north  as  the  Aconcagua  region,  with  excellent  results." 
Over  1,000,000  tons  of  coal  are  now  produced  annually 
in  Chile,  and  the  chances  are  that  this  output  will  be 
greatly  increased,  especially  since  the  purchase  by  S 
Japanese  syndicate,  which  owns  extensive  iron-ore  de- 
posits in  northern  Chile,  of  valuable  properties  in  the 
vicinity  of  Concepcion.  The  coal  deposits  in  the  Province 
of  Arauco  are  estimated  at  over  1,800,000,000  tons. 

In  general  the  coal  of  Latin  America,  though  not  of 
as  good  quality  as  Welsh  or  American  coal,  except  in 
some  parts  of  Mexico,  Colombia,  and  Venezuela,  is  capable 
when  properly  exploited  of  providing  for  most  of  the 
needs  of  the  important  mining  and  manufacturing  coun- 
tries, and  may,  on  the  North  and  West  Coasts,  prove  of 
high  significance  to  foreign  navies  and  merchant  vessels. 

LUMBER 

Among  the  Latin  American  industries  resting  on  vast 
resources  of  the  unexploited  basic  material,  the  lumber 
industry,  hitherto  passed  over  lightly  in  discussions  of 
Latin  America,  deserves  a paragraph  or  two. 

To  all  intents  and  purposes,  the  general  public,  when 
it  has  thought  at  all  of  the  illimitable  forests  of  Latin 
America,  has  viewed  them  as  picturesque  natural  adorn- 
ments or  as  serious  obstacles  to  the  building  of  lines  of 
communication.  It  rarely  gives  them  a moment’s  reflec- 
tion as  the  potential  source  of  a huge,  profitable,  and 
necessary  industry,  and  appears  totally  unaware  that  they 
are  now  being  utilized  on  a large  scale  in  construction 
work,  in  various  manufactures,  and  in  preliminary  experi- 
mental studies  for  the  production  of  paper  pulp. 

Lumber  for  construction  purposes  has  heretofore  been 
imported  into  Latin  America  principally  from  the  United 
States,  Canada,  Norway,  and  Sweden.  Prior  to  the  war, 
South  America  was  our  most  valued  customer  for  lumber, 
but  at  present  seems  to  be  yielding  ground  rapidly  to  the 


Changing  Industries 


77 


West  Indies,  whose  imports  of  lumber  from  the  United 
States  have  risen  from  $4,916,335  in  1913  to  $12,212,352 
in  1919.  This  phenomenon  might  be  explained  by  the 
high  cost  of  the  lumber  itself,  by  the  world-wide  scarcity 
of  that  commodity,  by  inadequate  shipping  facilities,  and 
by  excessive  transportation  charges:  yet  some  of  the  con- 
ditions are  no  worse,  relatively,  than  before,  direct  ship- 
ping from  the  United  States  is  more  numerous  than  ever, 
and  nothing  reasonable  beyond  the  supposition  that  South 
America  is  producing  more  lumber  and  buying  less  can 
account  for  the  very  real  decrease  in  our  lumber  exports 
to  the  South  American  republics.  The  diminution  in  the 
volume  of  lumber  purchased  from  the  United  States  by 
a few  Latin  American  countries,  as  shown  below,  is  much 
larger  than  the  figures  indicate  because  of  the  rise  in 
money  values: 

Lumber  exported  from  the  United  States  to 


1913  1919 

Brazil  $1,657,965  $238,142 

Chile  864,728  316,061 

Colombia  72,476  53,456 

Venezuela  75,573  58,375 


These  countries,  as  it  happens,  are  just  entering  on  what 
appears  to  be  a new  era  in  lumbering.  Brazil,  which  has 
incalculable  stores  of  Parana  pine  and  precious  tropical 
woods,  exported  to  Argentina  and  Uruguay  150,021  tons 
of  timber,  notably  pine,  in  1918  as  contrasted  with  30,719 
tons  in  1915 : and  its  production  for  the  home  market  has 
been  proportionately  large.  The  southern  portion  of  Chile, 
in  the  environs  of  Valdivia  and  Llanquihue,  is  a beehive 
of  lumber  activity,  with  saw-mills  along  the  railroad  and 
huge  stocks  of  the  manufactured  product  awaiting  ship- 
ment. The  industry  is  mainly  in  the  hands  of  the  German 
colonists  and  is  carried  on  with  proverbial  Teutonic  sys- 
tem and  energy.  Much  of  the  timber  here,  as  elsewhere 
in  Chile,  consists  of  the  alerce,  or  Chilean  pine,  often  two 
hundred  feet  high  and  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet  in  diameter, 
cypress,  cedar,  walnut,  and  beech,  and  other  native  varie- 
ties suitable  for  ship-building  and  general  construction. 


78 


Changing  Industries 


In  1916  the  Chilean  Government  made  a contract  with 
Dr.  Karl  Schwalbe,  of  the  Royal  Forestal  Academy  of 
Prussia,  for  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  value  of  the  white 
coigue — a splendid  tree  resembling  the  beech — for  the  mak- 
ing of  paper  pulp:  but  the  war  interrupted  the  negotia- 
tions. Interest,  however,  has  lately  been  revived  in  the 
project,  owing  to  the  shortage  and  high  cost  of  the  raw 
material  used  in  the  manufacture  of  paper  and  to  the 
large  consumption  of  paper,  cardboard,  and  other  pulp 
products  in  Argentina,  Uruguay,  and  Chile.  Argentinian 
capitalists  are  seeking  the  permission  of  the  Chilean  Gov- 
ernment to  cut  the  raw  material  for  manufacture  in  Argen- 
tina, and  it  cannot  be  long  before  Chile  will  be  supplying 
paper  and  articles  of  paper  pulp  from  its  thousands  of 
square  miles  of  usable  timber  to  its  neighbors  and  perhaps 
to  foreign  countries. 

The  Government  is  distinctly  favorable  to  the  develop- 
ment of  its  timber  lands,  and  American  lumber  companies 
and  paper  mills  might  well  follow  the  example  of  our 
packers,  such  as  the  Armours  and  the  Swifts,  or  our  mine 
operators,  such  as  the  Guggenheims  and  the  Bethlehem 
Steel  Corporation,  in  establishing  themselves  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  South  American  continent. 

That  the  utilization  of  the  forest  resources  of  Latin 
America,  formerly  neglected  except  for  the  dyewoods,  the 
medicinal  barks,  the  quebracho  used  in  tanning,  and  the 
mate  tree,  from  the  leaves  of  which  Paraguay  tea— the 
most  popular  beverage  of  southern  South  America — is 
obtained,  has  become  a source  of  concern  to  Latin  Amer- 
ican governments  and  to  companies  having  interest  in 
Latin  America,  is  visible  in  such  facts  as  those  detailed 
below. 

The  Guatemalan  Government  has,  during  the  present 
year,  invited  bids  for  the  cutting  of  extensive  tracts  of 
mahogany  and  cedar,  each  contract  to  cover  50,000  trees. 
The  Argentine  Minister  of  Agriculture,  in  view  of  the 
importation  of  19,000  metric  tons  of  wood  polp  and  43,000 
metric  tons  of  newsprint  paper  into  the  republic,  has 
initiated  a scientific  study  of  the  great  forests,  which, 


Changing  Industries 


79 


contrary  to  the  common  belief,  the  country  possesses, 
with  the  object  of  stimulating  the  local  manufacture  of 
newspaper  stock.  Uruguay  is  occupied  in  a compre- 
hensive scheme  of  afforestation  and  has  decreed  a gold 
medal  and  a bonus  of  three  thousand  dollars  to  Mr. 
Henry  Burnett,  the  British  vice-consul  at  Maldonado,  for 
his  introduction  of  over  ten  thousand  maritime  pines. 
The  Grace  Company  operates  large  lumber  mills  in 
Bolivia,  various  foreign  interests  control  saw-mills  in  the 
upper  Sinu  and  Choco  territory  of  Colombia,  and  the 
Mexican  Government  has  granted  a concession  of  about 
40,000  acres  of  good  timber-land  in  the  State  of  Chihuahua 
in  which,  it  is  expected,  United  States  capital  will  play 
the  leading  part. 

Houses  entirely  built  of  black  walnut  or  mahogany  may 
still  be  seen  in  some  districts  of  Peru,  forest  lands  may 
yet  be  bought  there  for  slightly  more  than  twenty-five 
cents  an  acre,  and  holdings  such  as  that,  in  the  Territory 
of  Misiones,  Argentina,  containing  416,800  acres  of 
wooded  lands  covered  with  Araucanian  pines  sixty-five 
feet  high,  may  for  a while  continue  to  be  offered  at  about 
two  dollars  an  acre : but  in  the  course  of  a few  decades 
incidents  of  this  sort  will  be  rareties. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  18th  century,  [observes  Professor 
Bernard  Moses],  even  after  the  port  of  Buenos  Aires  had  been 
opened  to  the  extent  of  admitting  two  small  vessels  annually,  an 
ox  was  worth  $1,  a sheep  from  3 to  4 cents,  and  a mare  10  cents. 

From  such  insignificant  beginnings  has  sprung  the 
enormous  animal  industry  which  has  enriched  the  whole 
southern  half  of  the  continent  of  South  America.  The 
forest  reserves  of  Latin  America,  awaiting  only  transpor- 
tation, are  destined  to  pass  through  a similar  evolution. 
In  addition  to  its  tropical  woods,  Latin  America  has  al- 
most inexhaustible  supplies  of  the  timber  of  the  temperate 
zones  which  is  growing  scarcer  in  the  United  States  and 
Europe. 

An  impartial  observer,  watching  the  actual  trend  of 
developments  in  the  major  industries  of  cattle-raising, 


80 


Changing  Industries 


petroleum  exploitation,  coal-mining,  and  lumbering 
treated  above,  would  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  they 
are  undergoing  a swift  transformation  which  will  soon 
place  them  on  the  level  of  industries  in  the  more  advanced 
countries  and  that  on  their  progress  depends  much  of  the 
future  comfort  and  industrial  activity  of  the  Western 
World. 


CHAPTER  IV 


MANUFACTURING  AND  LABOR 

More  than  one  loyal  Latin  American  professes  to  see 
grave  dangers  in  the  growing  industrialism  of  the  south- 
ern republics.  The  unsettled  conditions  of  some  of  the 
crowded  industrial  centers  of  Europe  have  been  repro- 
duced in  Latin  American  cities,  “undesirables”  have 
gained  entrance,  strikes  have  become  frequent  and  are 
affecting  the  national  life  as  a whole,  and  the  simple 
habits  of  an  agricultural  age  are  in  many  places  being 
subverted  by  the  complex  moral  and  physical  modifica- 
tions of  a machine-using,  factory  era. 

There  are  many,  too,  who  are  skeptical  about  Latin 
America’s  ability  to  compete  in  the  industries  with  the 
United  States,  Great  Britain,  Germany,  and  Japan  and 
are  thoroughly  convinced  that  the  manufacturing  ambi- 
tions of  some  of  the  countries  are  futile  and  unprofitable. 
They  would  welcome  a general  acceptance  of  agriculture 
as  the  predestined  and  permanent  occupation  of  Latin 
America.  It  is  their  belief  that  Latin  America  should 
continue  indefinitely  as  the  land  of  raw  materials. 

Much  may,  indeed,  be  said  for  their  side  of  the  case. 
The  European  War  proved  conclusively  that  the  ultimate 
power  resides  in  agriculture  and  its  attendant  basic  sup- 
plies and  exploded  the  fallacy — which  appears  to  be  com- 
monly held  under  the  Western  scheme  of  civilization — 
that  some  great  virtue  inheres  in  the  rapid  using  up  of 
natural  stores,  such  as  fuel,  minerals,  grains,  and  the  like. 
If  Latin  America  could  remain  the  land  of  vast  resources 
in  raw  materials  for  a few  more  centuries  it  would  unques- 
tionably hold  the  fate  of  the  United  States  and  a large 
part  of  Europe  in  its  hands. 

But  it  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  Latin  America  is 

81 


82 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


gradually  moving  toward  an  epoch  of  industrialism,  and 
that  some  of  the  countries  which  form  a part  of  it  have 
already  crossed  the  edge  of  the  charmed  circle.  The 
reasons  are  numerous,  of  course,  and  the  tendency  is  prac- 
tically inevitable.  The  Latin  America  of  to-day  is  in  con- 
tact with  the  rest  of  the  world;  its  inhabitants  are  coming 
increasingly  from  all  sections  of  the  globe,  with  definite 
attainments  in  certain  branches  of  manufactui’ing  or 
farming  and  seeking  certain  kinds  of  opportunities;  its 
capitalists  are  forever  on  the  watch  to  invest  their  money 
in  profitable  enterprises;  the  desire  to  be  self-sufficient 
actuates  several  of  the  republics;  and  last,  but  not  least, 
the  effort  of  machine-making  countries  to  sell  Latin 
America  their  products  stimulates  industrial  pursuits. 

Over  and  above  all,  the  economic  doctrine  that  local 
raw  materials  ought,  whenever  possible,  to  be  manufac- 
tured on  the  ground,  applies  as  well  to  Latin  America  as 
to  any  other  part  of  the  world.  Without  manufacturing, 
many  of  the  natural  resources,  such  as  water-power,  com- 
bustibles, iron,  nitrates,  remain  dormant  and  of  no 
appreciable  service  to  humanity,  and  some  industries  of 
the  nature  of  cattle-raising  could  not  be  carried  on  prac- 
tically on  any  other  than  a highly  organized  manufactur- 
ing basis. 

Latin  American  statesmen  and  financiers,  most  of  whom 
are  as  thoroughly  versed  in  world  currents  and  as  far- 
seeing  as  our  own  political  and  financial  leaders,  com- 
prehend clearly  the  next  stage  in  the  development  of  the 
more  advanced  countries. 

Instead  of  advising  capital  from  your  United  States  to  invest 
in  lands  for  agriculture  [President  Barros-Luco,  of  Chile,  declared 
to  Mr.  Roger  Babson],  I advise  them  to  consider  manufacturing 
possibilities  in  Chile.  Next  to  mining,  Chile  must  look  to  manu- 
facturing for  future  growth.  I believe  that  Chile  is  to  become 
the  great  manufacturing  center  of  South  America.  Here  we 
have  iron,  coal,  timber,  water  power,  chemicals,  wool,  and  all 
the  raw  materials.  I believe  that  your  people,  instead  of  trying 
to  sell  us  goods,  should  come  down  here  and  build  mills.  Give 
Chile  a market  for  her  nitrates,  copper,  and  iron,  together  with 
capital  to  build  mills,  factories,  and  ships.  In  such  a case,  Chile 


Manufacturing  and  Labor  83 

will  become  a great  industrial  country,  an  exporter  instead  of 
an  importer. 

Certain  staple  products  of  Latin  America  have  always 
presupposed  large  manufacturing  establishments,  the 
principal  ones  being  sugar,  tobacco,  coffee,  cereals,  cattle, 
and  minerals,  and  huge  sums  of  money  have  been  invested 
by  citizens  of  the  countries  and  foreigners  in  magnificent 
plants  technically  perfect  and  administered  with  the 
utmost  efficiency.  The  mention  of  some  of  these  may  give 
a faint  idea  of  the  prevalence  and  capacity  of  the  indus- 
trial plants  connected  with  the  staple  products  referred 
to  above,  which  are  situated  all  over  the  length  and 
breadth  of  Latin  America,  and  of  the  economic  and  social 
influence  which  they  must  wield  in  view  of  the  wages 
paid  and  the  example  in  modern  methods  which  they  set 
to  their  own  workmen  and  to  neighboring  concerns. 

A few  among  them  are  the  Cuba-American  Sugar  Co., 
with  an  authorized  capital  of  $20,000,000,  owning  367,000 
acres  of  land,  eight  factories,  2 refineries,  336  miles  of 
railroads,  brickyards,  electric  light  and  water  supply 
plants,  etc. ; the  Azucarera  Argentina,  with  a capital  of 
$1,500,000;  the  South  Porto  Rico  Sugar  Co.,  with  a capital 
of  $8,000,000,  controlling  plantations  and  factories  at 
Guanica  and  other  points  in  Porto  Rico  and  a plantation 
of  35,000  acres  in  the  Dominican  Republic ; the  British 
and  Argentine  Meat  Co.,  capitalized  at  $10,000,000 ; the 
Liebig  Extract  of  Meat  Co.,  capitalized  at  $8,000,000,  with 
lands  and  factories  in  Argentina,  Uruguay,  and  Colombia ; 
the  Mexican  National  Packing  Co.,  capitalized  at  $12,- 
750,000,  and  holding  government  concessions  in  the  live 
stock  and  meat  industries;  the  Argentina  Tobacco  Co., 
Ltd.,  capitalized  at  $9,816,330;  the  Braden  Copper  Mines 
Co.,  capitalized  at  $2,332,030,  and  operating  In  Chile;  the 
German-American  Coffee  Co.,  capitalized  at  $1,000,000, 
with  estates  in  Mexico ; the  Santa  Rosa  Milling  Co.,  Ltd., 
capitalized  at  $2,500,000,  and  carrying  on  a flour  milling 
business  at  Callao,  Peru,  and  Concepcion,  Chile. 

In  Argentina  there  are  to-day  about  800  flour  mills; 
in  Cuba  about  200  large  sugar  factories,  and  in  Brazil, 


84 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


about  140 ; in  all  the  countries  there  are  innumerable 
tobacco  factories,  the  Cuban  establishments  elaborating 
tremendous  quantities  of  cigars  and  cigarettes,  and  the 
Buen  Tono  Company  of  Mexico  alone  turning  out  about 
20,000,000  cigarettes  daily;  and  in  Argentina,  Uruguay, 
Brazil,  Chile,  Colombia,  and  Mexico,  scores  of  packing 
houses  and  refrigerating  plants,  employing  armies  of  men 
and  using  the  most  approved  modern  machinery,  form 
industrial  settlements  of  no  inconsiderable  size.  The  step 
from  the  production  of  the  raw  material  to  the  manu- 
facture of  the  finished  article  was  necessarily  taken  early 
in  these  industries. 

COTTON-GROWING  AND  COTTON-MANUFACTURING  IN  BRAZIL 

New  industries,  in  addition  to  the  multiplication  of 
manufacturing  establishments  related  to  the  traditional 
staple  products,  are  now  coming  to  the  fore  in  Latin 
America,  and  some  of  them  have  already  reached  large 
proportions.  The  cotton  manufacturing  industry,  of  com- 
paratively late  origin,  stands  preeminent  in  the  more 
recent  industrial  development. 

In  almost  every  country  of  Latin  America  where  cotton 
is  raised,  it  appears  to  be  the  settled  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment to  foster  local  manufacturing.  This  is  accomplished 
chiefly  through  a high  protective  tariff  which  enables 
manufacturers  to  undersell  their  foreign  competitors. 

The  Brazilian  import  duty  of  7.27  cents  a pound  on 
raw  cotton — the  highest  cotton  tariff  in  the  world — is 
an  effective  aid  not  only  to  cotton-growers,  but  also  to 
cotton  manufacturers,  and  is  evidently  not  levied,  as  are 
most  import  duties  in  Latin  America,  for  revenue  only. 
Its  industrial  value  is  seen  in  the  expanding  dimensions 
of  cotton  manufacturing  as  opposed  to  the  leisurely 
growth  of  cotton  culture.  Therein,  it  may  be  observed, 
lies  in  major  part  the  explanation  of  the  marked  decrease 
in  cotton  exports  in  several  of  the  Latin  American 
republics:  and  the  same  reason  holds  good  for  apparent 
decreases  in  production  in  other  branches. 

The  reader  who  is  aware  that  in  1872  Brazil  exported 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


85 


173,115,500  pounds  of  cotton  and  notes  that  its  exports 
of  that  crop  amounted  to  only  1,960,000  pounds  in  1915 
is  led  to  infer  that  Brazilian  cotton-raising  has  almost 
gone  to  smash.  The  progress,  in  truth,  has  been  much 
slower  than  might  have  been  expected.  The  199,040,000 
pounds  raised  in  1913,  the  last  normal  year  before  the 
war,  do  not  represent  any  great  advance  during  the  forty- 
one  years  since  1872,  and  the  figures  for  1915  (137,456,000 
pounds)  show  an  actual  drop,  due  in  a measure  to  after- 
war  conditions.  But  what  is  really  significant  is  that 
the  total  exports  of  cotton  in  1915  did  not  exceed  the 
meager  figure  of  1,960,000  pounds  (11,125  Brazilian  bales 
of  176  pounds  each),  thus  leaving  135,496,000  pounds  for 
home  consumption.  At  this  rate,  two  alternatives  face 
Brazil  now:  either  the  lowering  of  the  cotton  tariff,  so 
as  to  admit  the  raw  material  for  its  established  mills, 
or  greater  stimulation  to  cotton-growing  and  an  extension 
of  the  cotton-growing  area. 

The  number  of  spinning  spindles  reported  in  Brazil  for 
the  half  year  ending  January  31,  1921  was  1,500,000,  plac- 
ing Brazil  in  the  same  class  with  Belgium,  Switzerland 
and  China,  and  ahead  of  Austria  and  Canada.  Over 
three  hundred  fabric-weaving  factories  manufactured 
cloths  of  various  kinds  in  1915  and  employed  some  75,000 
hands.  One  factory  near  Pernambuco  produces  over 
1,500,000  yards  of  cotton  cloth  per  month  and  distributes 
its  output  all  over  Brazil  through  the  medium  of  more 
than  eighty  stores  controlled  by  the  company,  while  five 
mills  in  the  Federal  District,  with  8000  operatives,  average 
more  than  80,000,000  yards  annually.  New  mills  are  con- 
stantly being  established,  one  of  the  latest  locating  at 
Cordeiro,  in  the  State  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  small  towns 
are  rapidly  being  converted  into  the  typical  mill  centers 
which  transform  rural  districts  into  urban  districts, 
utilize  water-power,  add  the  smokestack  to  the  architec- 
tural features  of  a landscape  hitherto  dominated  by  the 
church  or  cathedral,  electrify  even  the  poorest  homes,  and 
cause  community  life  to  revolve  about  the  factory-whistle 
and  the  weekly  pay-envelope. 


86 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


The  rest  of  the  cotton-producing  area  of  Latin  America 
is  passing  through  an  identical  evolution  in  which  cotton- 
growing leads  to  manufacturing,  and  manufacturing  to 
a profound  change  in  local  habits  in  and  about  the  factory 
precincts. 

Mexico  follows  Brazil  in  cotton-growing,  with  an  annual 
crop  of  100,000,000  pounds  and  some  very  considerable 
plantations,  one  of  which,  the  Mexican  Cotton  Estates  of 
Tlahualilo,  Ltd.,  is  capitalized  at  $1,250,000.  Of  the  cot- 
ton factories,  the  one  at  Atlixco  is  capitalized  at  $6,000,- 
000,  the  Compahia  Industrial  de  Orizaba,  at  $15,000,000, 
and  a number  of  others,  at  more  than  $1,000,000.  For 
the  half  year  ending  January  31,  1921,  official  returns 
gave  the  number  of  spindles  at  720,000.  Between  30,000 
and  40,000  operatives  are  employed. 

The  goods  manufactured  in  Mexico,  as  in  most  of  the 
other  Latin  American  countries,  are  of  the  simpler  kinds 
and  do  not  usually  compete  with  the  highest  grades 
obtainable  from  abroad:  but  this  condition  results  mainly 
from  the  heavy  demand  for  the  less  costly  cloths,  and 
will  naturally  change  as  the  per  capita  wealth  and  the 
desire  for  more  expensive  fabrics  increase. 

Peru,  ranking  next  to  Mexico  in  the  production  of 
cotton,  is  building  up  a large  cotton-manufacturing  in- 
dustry, and  has  begun  to  export  the  manufactured  article 
to  neighboring  Latin  American  countries,  Colombia, 
Venezuela,  and  Ecuador,  all  grow  cotton  and  possess  cot- 
ton factories,  Colombia  having  by  far  the  largest  number 
of  mills,  which  total  about  30,  and  turning  out,  at  Bogota, 
Barranquilla,  Cartagena,  and  Medellin,  a greater  variety 
of  spun,  woven,  and  knit  goods,  including  hosiery,  than 
either  of  the  other  countries.  Venezuela,  nevertheless, 
has  three  large  plants  at  Caracas,  Valencia,  and  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  republic,  and  several  smaller  factories, 
which  produce  80  per  cent  of  the  ordinary  cloth  con- 
sumed in  the  country  and  average  120,000  dozen  under- 
wear annually. 

Central  America,  the  West  Indies,  Uruguay,  and  Chile 
are  practically  negligible  factors  as  producers  of  cotton, 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


87 


but  are  not  without  cotton-manufacturing  plants  and  are, 
in  fact,  as  in  the  case  of  Chile  and  Uruguay,  seeking  to 
extend  their  textile  facilities  by  the  importation  of  cotton 
and  the  attraction  of  foreign  capital  to  the  cotton 
industry. 

COTTON-MANUFACTURING  IN  ARGENTINA 

Though  cotton  production  in  Argentina  is  as  yet  in  its 
initial  stages  and  amounts  to  little  more  than  1,000,000 
pounds  a year  in  spite  of  the  large  tracts  in  the  north 
suitable  for  cotton-growing,  half  a dozen  spinning  and 
weaving  factories  and  nearly  fifty  knitting  mills  consti- 
tute a branch  of  industry  which  may  some  day  pi’ove  of 
national  importance.  Accessibility  to  the  great  cotton 
regions  directly  north  should  eventually  inspire  Argentina 
with  the  ambition  to  fulfil  in  South  America  the  role  of 
the  British  and  American  cotton-manufacturing  centers, 
which  have  to  obtain  their  supplies  at  a distance. 

Though  it  is  true  that  Argentina  is  still  primarily  an 
agricultural  country  and  will  continue  to  be  so  for 
decades,  its  manufactures  are  growing  more  numerous 
and  more  highly  diversified.  Its  position  as  the  leading 
and  most  progressive  Latin  American  republic  and  the 
character  of  its  immigrants,  who  are  to-day  coming  less 
from  the  agricultural  quarters  of  Europe  and  in  larger 
numbers  from  the  manufacturing  districts,  are  forcing  it 
into  industrial  avenues  even  more  rapidly  than  it  may 
desire. 


“buy  home-made  products” 

Not  only  in  Argentina,  but  in  almost  every  other  impor- 
tant Latin  American  country,  the  slogan,  “Buy  home- 
made products,”  is  becoming  a national  cry  and  a cri- 
terion of  patriotism.  Thus  far,  it  has  caused  no  great 
anxiety  among  the  manufacturing  nations  supplying 
Latin  America,  and  is  even  encouraged  by  foreign  con- 
cerns established  there.  Whether  the  refrain  is  spon- 
taneous, and  a natural  resultant  of  a growing  nationalistic 
spirit,  or  whether  it  is  artificially  and  artfully  stimulated 


88 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


by  the  business  men  and  local  chambers  of  commerce, 
matters  little.  It  is  the  effect  on  foreign  imports  that 
counts:  and  that  effect  is  becoming  alarmingly  manifest 
in  several  branches. 

It  is  not  so  long  ago  since  traveling-bags,  pocket- 
books,  vanity-cases,  card-cases,  and  manufactured  harness 
material  were  imported  from  abroad  into  Argentina,  offer- 
ing a lucrative  business  to  European  leather-workers. 
Many  firms  of  respectable  size  catered  especially  to  the 
Argentine  market  and  maintained  large  establishments 
for  the  production  of  their  wares.  To-day,  the  foreign 
article  is  being  inexorably  elbowed  out  by  the  Argentine 
product,  which  in  many  cases  is  up  to  the  European 
standard.  The  time  may  be  foreseen  when  Argentine 
leather-goods,  made  by  the  factories  in  Buenos  Aires — 
of  which  there  are  now  about  a dozen — and  in  other  in- 
dustrial centers  will  fully  supply  the  home-market  and 
make  a strong  bid  for  the  trade  in  other  Latin  American 
countries. 

Before  the  establishment  of  the  paper  factory  at 
Maracay,  Venezuela,  practically  all  paper  was  imported: 
now,  the  Maracay  factory  furnishes  a very  considerable 
proportion  of  the  paper  used  in  the  republic  and  has  to 
that  extent  cut  into  the  sales  of  the  foreign  product. 

ADVENT  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE  OF  RUBBER  IN  BRAZIL 

By  a curious  anomaly,  the  manufacture  of  rubber 
articles,  which  should  have  had  some  standing  in  Brazil 
as  soon  as  rubber  became  a marketable  product,  has  until 
recently  received  almost  no  attention  at  all.  But  since 
1913  several  factories  have  taken  up  the  elaboration  of 
the  raw  material  and  are  doing  a prosperous  business  in 
the  manufacture  of  rubber  tires  and  other  rubber  goods; 
and  the  Goodyear  Tire  Company  has  terminated  its  pre- 
liminary negotiations  with  the  Brazilian  Government  for 
the  erection  of  a plant  in  which  to  supplement  the  out- 
put of  its  American  establishments.  Other  American  rub- 
ber manufacturers  may  be  expected  to  follow  suit. 

"While  it  may  seem,  and  probably  is,  presumptuous  to 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


89 


institute  a comparison  between  even  the  most  advanced 
manufacturing  countries  of  Latin  America  and  our  own 
country,  the  idea  is  not  altogether  preposterous.  Coal 
and  iron  have  undoubtedly  proved  the  magic  wand  by 
means  of  which  the  United  States  has  been  transformed 
from  a producer  of  raw  materials — our  early  and  signifi- 
cant economic  role — into  the  world’s  greatest  manufac- 
turer: and  Latin  America  thus  far,  though  rich  in  iron, 
appears  deficient  in  coal.  Yet  a new  epoch  in  the  develop- 
ment of  power  has  arisen,  and  it  is  possible  that  water- 
power may  come  to  be  the  final  arbiter  of  the  manufac- 
turing destinies  of  nations.  In  that  form  of  energy,  Latin 
America  is  peculiarly  rich : and  the  projects  which  it 
makes  feasible  may  be  instanced  by  the  transmission  of 
a current  of  110,000  volts  by  the  Chile  Exploration  Com- 
pany from  Tocopila,  on  the  coast  of  Chile,  to  its  remark- 
able plant  at  Chuquicamata,  a hundred  miles  away. 

Without  coal  of  its  own,  Argentina  now  possesses 
approximately  50,000  industrial  establishments  which 
annually  turn  out  goods  to  the  value  of  about  one  and 
a third  billion  dollars,  and  require  the  services  of  more 
than  a third  of  a million  persons.  In  1850,  when  we 
exhibited  the  first  signs  of  becoming  an  industrial  country, 
the  value  of  our  manufactured  products  was  $1,019,106,- 
616 : and  we  were  further  along  in  the  path  of  modern 
progress  than  Argentina  is  supposed  to  be  to-day.  The 
number  of  industrial  plants  in  the  Province  of  Buenos 
Aires  alone  was  12,687  at  the  end  of  1919. 

Chile  furnishes  an  excellent  example  of  the  even  pace 
kept  by  the  local  exploitation  of  motive  power  and  the 
growth  of  manufacturing,  and  shows  to  what  extent  some 
of  the  Latin  American  countries  may  “ease  up’’  on  their 
dependence  on  foreign  fuel. 

Between  1909  and  1914,  Chile  imported  an  average  of 
1,403,579  metric  tons  of  coal,  or  more  than  half  of  its 
requirement  of  2^500,000  tons  for  its  industries.  The  war 
intervened,  coal  was  high  and  hard  to  obtain,  and  rail- 
ways and  manufacturing  plants  had  to  be  supplied  from 
sources  near  at  hand.  Having  a coal  area  of  1780  kilo- 


90 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


meters,  with  coal  reserves  of  more  than  two  billion  tons, 
the  Government  undertook  an  extensive  programme  to 
increase  the  amount  of  coal  production.  With  such  success 
was  the  programme  carried  on  that  by  1918,  in  spite  of 
increased  demands  for  the  fuel,  the  importation  of  coal 
had  decreased  to  386,478  metric  tons,  or  about  a quarter 
of  the  former  figures.  In  the  many  factories  using  gas 
obtained  from  Australian  coal,  gas  made  from  native 
coal  was  substituted:  and  to-day  practically  all  the 
Chilean  gas  is  secured  from  coal  mined  in  the  Chilean 
fields. 

In  the  meantime,  manufacturing  has  not  slackened, 
excepting  as  affected  by  conditions  which  are  world  wide. 
To-day,  Chile  is  the  most  important  manufacturing 
country  on  the  West  Coast,  and,  as  has  been  indicated 
by  a quotation  from  President  Barros-Luco,  aspires  to 
a prominent  status  in  the  manufacturing  world.  In  1913 
the  value  of  the  production  of  its  manufacturing  indus- 
tries was  $130,000,000,  the  number  of  its  factories  over 
6000,  and  that  of  its  factory  employees,  about  80,000. 
With  a considerable  provision  of  coal,  an  admirable 
supply  of  hydraulic  power,  a seaboard  about  3000  miles 
in  length,  and  the  will  to  manufacture,  Chile  has  splendid 
prospects  of  industrial  prosperity. 

FUTURE  MANUFACTURING  CENTERS 

If  an  industrial  chart  of  Latin  America  were  to  be  pre- 
pared, showing  present  tendencies,  four  distinct  regions 
could  be  selected  as  great  manufacturing  centers  of  the 
near  future.  These  are  Chile,  Argentina,  the  southern 
part  of  Brazil,  and  Mexico. 

Enough  has  been  said  of  manufacturing  in  Chile  and 
Argentina  to  convince  those  who  picture  them  as  only 
raw-material  countries  that  the  industrial  nucleus  is  large 
and  undergoing  a process  of  expansion.  Data  as  sur- 
prising may  be  adduced  in  behalf  of  Brazil  and  Mexico. 

The  principal  manufacturing  districts  of  Brazil  are  com- 
prised within  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo  and  the  Federal 
District,  in  which  Rio  de  Janeiro  is  located. 


COFFEE  PLANTATION,  BRAZIL. 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


91 


The  State  of  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil,  has  always  enjoyed  the 
reputation  of  uncommon  energy  and  commercial  activity, 
and  its  fame  is  not  belied  in  the  province  of  the  manufac- 
turing industries.  To  the  general  public,  Sao  Paulo 
symbolizes  coffee — and  only  coffee.  But  a decided  lack  of 
initiative  might  be  charged  against  the  Paulistas — the 
Yankees  of  Brazil — if  they  were  content  to  abide  by  the 
harvest  of  a single  crop.  In  reality  the  Paulistas  have 
kept  their  hands  from  few  industries.  Textiles,  jute,  lace, 
silk  manufactures,  beverages,  clothing,  matches,  drugs,  per- 
fumery, shoes,  iron-ware,  tobacco  products,  furniture, 
earthenware,  glass,  paper,  matches,  leather  products,  manu- 
factured hydrogen  gas,  chemicals  are  among  the  numerous 
articles  manufactured  in  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo.  During 
1918,  the  total  value  of  the  manufactures  of  Sao  Paulo 
amounted  to  556,801  contos,  or,  at  the  exchange  rate  at 
that  time  of  nearly  $260  to  the  conto,  about  $140,000,000 
in  American  currency.  The  leading  articles  were  textiles 
and  shoes.  The  Federal  District,  containing  1265  factories 
in  1919,  and  employing  in  the  neighborhood  of  50,000 
persons,  produced  goods  not  far  below  the  value  of  $100,- 
000,000,  and  of  a highly  diversified  character. 

These  two  states  alone  have,  of  recent  years,  fallen  little 
short  of  the  total  value  of  manufactures  in  Brazil  in  1910, 
when,  as  has  been  estimated,  they  represented  the  sum  of 
about  $240,000,000. 

VARIED  MANUFACTURES  OF  BRAZIL 

At  the  present  moment,  Brazil  possesses,  according  to 
recent  data,  36,745  industrial  establishments,  of  which 
7613  are  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  shoes,  1040  in 
the  production  of  textiles,  and  1291  in  pharmaceutical 
supplies. 

Many  of  the  manufacturing  plants  in  Brazil,  as  else- 
where, are,  of  course,  small,  and  their  importance  lies  in 
their  aggregate  number  and  in  their  fulfillment  of  local 
needs.  But  large  establishments  are  not  wanting,  and 
will  stand  comparison  with  the  great  public  service  cor- 
porations such  as  the  Brazilian  Traction,  Light,  and  Power 


92 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


Co.,  capitalized  at  $120,000,000,  which  controls  the  Rio 
de  Janeiro  Tramway,  Light,  and  Power  Co.,  the  Sao 
Paulo  Tramway,  Light,  and  Power  Co.,  and  the  Sao  Paulo 
Electric  Co. ; the  Ceara  Tramway,  Light,  and  Power  Co., 
capitalized  at  $2,000,000 ; the  Companhia  Brazileira  de 
Energia  Electrica,  capitalized  at  $10,000,000;  the  Manaos 
Tramways  and  Light  Co.,  capitalized  at  $1,500,000;  the 
Southern  Brazil  Electric  Co.,  capitalized  as  $3,750,000. 

NEW  MANUFACTURING  PROJECTS  IN  BRAZIL 

Thus,  the  Parana  plant  of  the  Brazilian  Railway  Com- 
pany, in  which  vast  quantities  of  construction  planks  are 
made,  involved  an  initial  cost  of  $25,000,000.  The  con- 
struction shops  of  the  North-Western  line  constitute  an 
extensive  manufacturing  plant,  in  which  practically 
everything  required  by  the  railroad,  from  rolling  stock 
to  dining-cars,  is  turned  out  of  Brazilian  materials  by 
Brazilian  workmen.  Recently,  authorization  has  been 
given  to  the  Minister  of  Agriculture  to  contract  for  the 
establishment  in  the  State  of  Minas  Geraes  of  a “steel 
mill  for  the  electric  smelting  of  iron  and  the  manufacture 
of  steel  sheets.  The  same  contract  will  include  a factory 
for  the  manufacture  of  cement  and  the  development  of 
the  waste  materials  left  from  the  metals,  and  the  con- 
struction of  a railway  for  the  transportation  of  the  raw 
materials  for  the  several  industries.”  This  enterprise  will, 
it  is  expected,  be  completed  by  December  of  the  present 
year  (1921).  Another  large  undertaking,  which  is  listed 
for  this  year,  is  the  exploitation  of  the  paper  pulp  in- 
dustry in  the  States  of  Parana  and  Santa  Catharina  for 
the  benefit  of  an  association  of  the  principal  newspapers 
of  Argentina,  Brazil,  and  Uruguay.  Several  factories  have 
lately  entered  the  business  of  manufacturing  the  simpler 
agricultural  implements  and  are  offering  competition  to 
foreign  firms  in  plows,  harrows,  rice  machinery,  and 
rough  cane  mills. 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


93 


VARIED  MANUFACTURES  OF  MEXICO 

Mexico’s  chances  of  becoming  a significant  manufac- 
turing country,  though  little  thought  of  by  the  general 
public,  are  fully  as  good  as  Chile’s  and  in  many  respects, 
better. 

It  possesses  the  raw  materials  for  almost  every  class 
of  industry,  has  two  long  coastlines  of  1772  and  4594 
miles,  respectively — the  advantages  of  which  it  is  plan- 
ning to  utilize  by  a national  merchant  marine  to  be  built 
from  the  proceeds  of  the  centennial  tax  collected  in 
September,  1921 — has  an  excellent  start  in  railway  trans- 
portation, contains  large  coal  resources, ‘"and  can  get  any 
supplementary  quantities  which  it  may  temporarily  need 
almost  on  its  borders  from  the  United  States,  is  super- 
latively wealthy  in  petroleum,  has  water-power,  and,  in 
short,  appears  in  every  detail  to  be  almost  as  well  endowed 
industrially  as  the  United  States.  Its  manufacturing 
progress  needs  only  political  stability  and  more  foreign 
immigration  to  become  rapid. 

Mining  and  oil  working  have,  of  course,  occupied  the 
center  of  the  stage  in  Mexico.  Its  manufactures,  includ- 
ing textiles,  woolen  goods,  chemicals,  steel  and  iron 
products,  paper,  henequen — from  which  binder-twine  is 
made — flour,  soap,  and  dynamite  and  explosives,  in  addi- 
tion to  cotton  fabrics,  which  have  been  discussed,  are, 
nevertheless,  of  impressive  magnitude. 

Half  a dozen  fiber  plants,  capitalized  at  from  $500,000 
to  $4,000,000,  produce  rope,  thread,  carpets,  and  rugs  in 
large  quantities.  Woolen  mills  are  to  be  found  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  republic,  that  at  Tlalnepantla,  famous 
for  its  blankets,  being  capitalized  at  $1,500,000.  The 
Comision  Reguladora  de  Henequen  of  Yucatan  has  prac- 
tically controlled  the  henequen  output  of  about  $40,000,- 
000  annually.  La  Abeja  Company,  capitalized  at  $500,000, 
is  but  one  of  a large  number  of  factories  devoted  to  the 
manufacture  of  Mexican  sombreros  and  “Panama”  hats. 
Several  soap  factories,  capitalized  at  varying  amounts  up 
to  the  $5,000,000  invested  by  the  Laguna  Soap  Company, 


94  Manufacturing  and  Labor 

manufacture  millions  of  pounds  of  soap  and  thousands  of 
tons  of  cottonseed  oil  and  glycerine  daily.  Iron  and  steel 
manufactures  have  taken  on  huge  proportions,  the  Mon- 
terrey Iron  and  Steel  Company,  which  represents  a capi- 
talization of  $10,000,000,  turning  out  three  hundred  tons 
of  steel  each  day,  and  furnishing  enormous  amounts  of 
structural  iron  and  steel  rails.  The  San  Rafael  and 
Anexas  Company,  capitalized  at  $7,000,000,  operates 
several  factories  and  a pulp  mill  near  Mexico  City.  Flour 
mills  in  Chihuahua,  Saltillo,  Aguascalientes,  Mexico  City, 
and  at  other  points  throughout  the  country,  elaborate 
the  $20,000,000  of  wheat  raised  annually  and  the  great 
quantities  of  other  cereals.  The  Mexican  Crude  Rubber 
Company*  capitalized  at  $1,500,000,  has  factories  in 
several  Mexican  cities. 

Public  utility  plants,  on  which  much  of  the  manufac- 
turing is  dependent,  are  located  in  large  number  all  over 
the  country  and  have  capitalizations  running  from  less 
than  $1,000,000  to  $25,000,000. 

FUTURE  OF  MANUFACTURING  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

Even  if  the  population  of  these  growing  industrial 
nations  should  increase  at  a rate  less  than  normal  and 
only  double  during  the  next  fifty  years — instead  of 
tripling,  as  has  been  true  in  the  United  States  in  the  past 
fifty  years — the  development  of  manufacturing  for  home 
consumption,  for  export  to  neighboring  countries,  and  for 
such  distant  trade  as  may  arise,  must  necessarily  result 
in  a production  which  would  seem  extraordinary  to-day. 
Argentina  would  then  have  eighteen  million  inhabitants, 
Chile  eight  million,  Brazil  sixty  million,  and  Mexico  thirty- 
two  million. 

The  history  of  all  countries  with  manufacturing  facili- 
ties shows  that  those  articles  of  common  use  which  can 
be  made  locally  at  a reasonable  cost  are  gradually  stricken 
from  the  list  of  foreign  imports  and  permanently  placed 
among  the  national  manufactures,  receiving  whenever 
necessary  ample  governmental  protection : and  there  is  no 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


95 


reason  to  believe  that  the  history  of  Latin  America  on 
this  point  will  be  different. 

Any  far-sighted  policy  which  looks  fifty  years  ahead 
will  keep  this  historical  tendency  in  mind  in  its  dealings 
with  Latin  America.  What  Latin  America  imports  now 
in  vast  quantities  may  not  form  the  bulk  of  its  imports 
within  another  generation  or  two.  Already  several  foreign 
articles  are  losing  ground.  The  leather-goods  trade  has 
been  cited : and  mention  may  be  made  of  the  effect  of  the 
expanding  metallurgical  industry  in  Argentina  and  of 
railroad-car  construction  in  Chile  on  their  respective 
branches  of  importation. 

A much  more  intensive  cultivation  of  the  people  and 
of  the  market,  greater  specialization,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  more  American  industries  and  commercial  houses 
on  Latin  American  soil  will  fairly  soon  have  to  become 
an  integral  part  of  our  business  relations  with  Latin 
America.  Great  Britain,  with  its  industrial  corporations 
located  in  Latin  America  and  its  commercial  establish- 
ments like  the  Argentine  branch  of  Harrods,  is  anticipat- 
ing coming  events. 


Perhaps  the  surest  evidence  of  the  industrial  evolution 
in  Latin  America  is  afforded  by  the  changing  situation  of 
labor  and  the  efforts  made  to  arrive  at  a practicable  modus 
vivendi  between  capital  and  labor.  Recent  labor  problems, 
generally  concerned  with  the  industrial  classes  and  rarely 
with  the  agricultural  workers,  have  given  much  concern 
to  Latin  American  governments  and  to  welfare  asso- 
< * ' 'ons. 


le  Indian  population  of  Latin  America,  which  is  pre- 
ponderant in  Peru,  Bolivia,  Ecuador,  and  Mexico  and 
principally  occupied  in  mining  and  agriculture,  is  only 
infrequently  and  incidentally  involved  in  labor  difficulties. 
The  docile  character  and  phlegmatic  temperament  of  the 
Indian,  his  contentment  with  a primitive  mode  of  exist- 
ence, his  lack  of  self-assertion,  and  his  small  power  of 
building  up  social  or  economic  organizations  are  not  likely 


CHANGING  CONDITIONS  OF  LABOR 


96 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


to  lead  him  into  radical  industrial  movements  unless 
stirred  up  by  foreign  agitatioi^ 

The  prime  movers  of  social  unrest  are  the  European 
immigrants  who  come  to  the  large  cities  and  congregate 
in  the  industrial  districts.  Bringing  with  them  the  latest 
ideas  of  the  relations  between  employer  and  employee, 
counting  on  the  sympathies  of  their  numerous  country- 
men in  Argentina,  Uruguay,  Chile,  and  Brazil,  strongly 
imbued  with  the  democratic  and  socialistic  theories  which 
have  been  passing  over  Europe  in  periodic  waves,  and 
guided  by  professional  labor  leaders  who  understand  how 
to  use  the  public  press  and  the  spoken  word,  they  have 
within  a short  period  popularized  the  modern  proletarian 
attitude  in  the  southern  part  of  South  America  and  will 
inevitably  influence  agricultural  and  mining  sentiment  in 
the  course  of  time. 

Their  teachings  will  undoubtedly  be  taken  to  heart  most 
seriously  in  those  regions  where  the  landed  bureaucracy 
has  been  strongly  intrenched  since  the  founding  of  the 
Spanish  colonies  and  where  anything  like  a parceling 
out  of  the  vast  estates  would  savor  of  the  wildest  heresy. 
Reasoning  from  current  history,  it  is  impossible  to  see  how 
the  great  landed  proprietors  can  ultimately  avoid  con- 
flicts similar  to  those  which  ended  in  Francisco  Madero’s 
election  to  the  presidency  of  Mexico. 

The  center  of  labor  unrest  is  at  present  the  Argentine 
Republic.  From  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century, 
the  social  and  political  life  of  the  country  has  undergone 
a distinct  alteration  due  to  industrial  elements,  culminat- 
ing in  the  election  of  President  Hipolito  Irigoyen  in  1916 
by  the  more  “progressive”  or  socialistically  inclined 
groups.  Strikes  have  become  increasingly  frequent,  the 
government  has  been  forced  to  adopt  repressive  measures, 
at  times  declaring  a state  of  martial  law,  and  “unde- 
sirables” in  large  numbers  have  been  deported  because 
of  acts  of  extreme  violence. 

In  1906,  in  addition  to  a considerable  number  of  strikes 
of  minor  duration,  23  general  strikes  took  place,  in  which 
18,317  workingmen  participated;  in  1910,  214  strikes,  in 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


97 


which  17,000  were  involved  and  the  business  of  the  capital 
was  paralyzed  for  a period,  occurred  in  Buenos  Aires; 
by  the  first  half  of  1919,  the  number  of  strikes  in  the 
republic  had  mounted  to  259,  affecting  262,319  working- 
men. 

Though  originating  primarily  in  the  desire  of  the  labor 
organizations  to  raise  the  standard  of  wages,  to  shorten 
the  hours  of  work,  and  to  better  the  economic  and  social 
condition  of  the  laboring  classes  in  general,  the  labor  dis- 
satisfaction has  had  political  and  industrial  repercussions 
which  have  been  far-reaching,  often  disastrous,  and,  both 
in  Argentina  and  elsewhere,  sometimes  beneficial.  In 
January,  1921,  according  to  a report  received  by  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce, 

Labor  conditions  continue  unfavorable  [in  Argentina].  The 
strike  at  the  oil  refineries  has  not  been  settled  and  there  is  in 
the  Republic  a great  scarcity  of  gasoline,  which  is  seriously  inter- 
fering with  harvesting  operations.  There  is  also  a sympathetic 
strike  of  chauffeurs  in  Buenos  Aires.  There  are  frequent  signs 
of  unrest  among  the  rural  laborers  but  the  trouble  is  hot  as 
serious  as  last  year.  The  rural  society  has  petitioned  Congress 
to  pass  strike  legislation.  After  a whole  year  the  strike  of  the 
Mihailovich  fleet  is  still  a deadlock. 

The  month  of  May  of  the  same  year  saw  conflicts  be- 
tween the  authorities  and  the  longshoremen  of  Buenos 
Aires  which  resulted  in  several  deaths.  The  incident  of 
the  “Martha  Washington,”  belonging  to  the  United 
States  Shipping  Board,  gave  rise  to  grave  questions  in 
which  the  editorial  opinion  of  Buenos  Aires  foresaw  the 
possibility  of  claims  for  damages  by  the  United  States 
Government  and  by  reason  of  which  the  arrogant  stand 
of  the  Maritime  Labor  Federation,  in  presuming  to  inter- 
fere in  a dispute  between  the  crew  and  the  officers  of  a 
United  States  vessel,  and  the  laxity  of  the  Argentine  Gov- 
ernment were  roundly  scored.  American  and  British  pack- 
ing interests  have  suffered  from  labor  domination  to  such 
an  extent  that  some  of  the  companies  have  threatened 
to  close  their  establishments,  and  one  British  concern  has 
already  done  so. 


98 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


The  government  of  Paraguay  has  recently  had  to  com- 
mission its  Minister  of  War  to  try  to  compose  the  dif- 
ferences which  have  arisen  between  the  ship-owners  and 
the  port- workers’  union,  and  Mexico  has  found  it  neces- 
sary to  expel  foreigners  who  have  been  fomenting  trouble 
among  the  industrial  classes.  Labor  difficulties  have  not 
been  restricted  to  dock-workers,  but  have  been  prevalent 
in  all  the  industries  from  cotton-milling  to  street-cleaning. 

Any  American  reading  of  such  happenings  in  Latin 
America  for  the  first  time  will  in  all  probability  ascribe 
them  to  the  Latin  American  temperament  and  find  in  them 
another  argument  for  persisting  in  his  conviction  that 
our  southern  neighbors  are  incurably  unruly  and  in- 
capable of  orderly  progress.  The  truth  is,  however,  that 
Latin  America  thus  far  has  had  a remarkably  peaceful 
industrial  development  compared  with  other  divisions  of 
the  globe. 

The  record  for  the  United  States  alone  in  1919  was 
3253  strikes  and  121  lockouts:  and  between  January  and 
June,  1920,  American  workingmen  to  the  number  of  nearly 
a million  Avere  affected  by  strikes,  Avith  a loss  of  over 
eleven  million  Avorking-days. 

What  American  labor  has  set  out  to  accomplish,  and 
does  accomplish  in  large  measure,  though  at  the  cost  of 
tremendous  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  everybody  concerned, 
including  the  innocent  public,  Latin  American  labor 
organizations  also  try  to  accomplish.  Defeated  in  their 
demands  in  the  majority  of  cases,  as  occurs  in  the  United 
States,  too,  and  in  other  countries,  the  Latin  American 
strikers  have,  nevertheless,  won  significant  victories,  and 
caused  the  framing  of  modern  industrial  laAvs  and  the 
introduction  of  protective  economic  and  social  measures 
more  effectively,  perhaps,  than  strikers  the  world  over 
have  succeeded  in  doing. 

LABOR  LEGISLATION 

M.  Clemenceau,  in  his  South  America  of  To-day,  pub- 
lished in  1911,  states  explicitly  in  several  passages  that 
“laA\rs  for  the  protection  of  labour  are  unknoAvn  in  the 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


99 


Argentine”  and  Brazil,  commends  the  mill-owners  for 
their  humane  treatment  of  their  employees,  predicts  that 
the  labor  question  will  soon  force  itself  to  the  attention 
of  legislators,  and  declares  of  Brazil  that  “a  number  of 
colonists  in  lands  where  the  administration  has  shown  it- 
self slow  to  take  action  have  protested  so  loudly  against 
the  grave  abuses  that  result  that  some  Latin  countries 
have  been  obliged  to  forbid  emigration  to  Brazil.” 

From  certain  bills  presented  to  the  Argentine  Congress 
about  the  middle  of  1910,  we  may  infer  that  the  legal 
action  in  behalf  of  labor  was  just  beginning  to  make 
headway  at  the  time  of  M.  C16menceau’s  trip  to  South 
America:  for  in  1910  a bill  before  the  Argentine  Congress 
asked  for  the  establishment  of  a Department  of  Labor 
to  study  labor  problems,  draw  up  and  enforce  regulations, 
and  to  offer  its  services  as  arbitrator  in  disputes.  In  the 
same  year,  the  questions  of  workingmen’s  compensation 
and  compiilsory  arbitration  came  up  before  that  body. 
Since  then,  labor  legislation  has  been  one  of  the  most 
engrossing  topics  in  the  halls  of  Latin  American  law- 
makers and  among  societies  for  social  betterment. 

In  all  the  larger  countries,  the  demand  for  an  eight- 
hour  day,  for  compensation  in  case  of  accident,  and  for 
the  right  to  strike  has  figured  prominently  in  labor  pro- 
grammes. 

The  labor  laws  of  Mexico  are  especially  detailed  with 
regard  to  a minimum  living  wage,  adjustment  of  dif- 
ferences, the  composition  of  the  Committee  on  Concilia- 
tion and  Arbitration,  and  the  relations  between  employers 
and  striking  employees,  and  in  reality  embody  Ihe  best 
principles  evolved  in  the  most  progressive  countries  of 
Europe  and  North  America.  As  everywhere,  their  success 
depends  chiefly  on  the  effectiveness  with  which  they  are 
enforced. 

Uruguay,  which  is  sometimes  spoken  of  as  the  socio- 
logical laboratory  of  South  America  and  is  the  most 
advanced  republic  in  constructive  legislation,  has  decreed 
that  no  laboring  man  shall  work  more  than  six  days  in 
the  week,  nor  more  than  eight  hours  in  a single  day. 


100  Manufacturing  and  Labor 

The  President  of  Cuba  has  lately  established  the  hours 
of  work  and  wages  for  dockmen  at  Santiago,  specifying 
that  the  working  day  shall  run  from  seven  to  eleven 
o’clock  in  the  morning  and  from  one  to  five  o’clock  in 
the  afternoon,  that  from  $4  to  $4.50  per  day  shall  be  paid 
port  labor,  and  that  overtime  shall  be  paid  double. 

The  Buenos  Aires  City  Council  has  conditioned  its  per- 
mission to  two  of  the  principal  tramway  companies  to 
raise  rates  on  their  maintenance  of  an  eight-hour  day  for 
their  workmen,  extra  pay  for  all  overtime,  a general  in- 
crease of  ten  per  cent  on  wages  below  $108  per  month, 
a minimum  wage,  and  the  foundation  of  a pension  fund, 
to  which  the  tramway  companies  must  contribute  eight 
per  cent  of  the  wages  and  salaries  earned  by  employees. 
The  interests  involved  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact 
that  in  1919  the  gross  receipts  of  the  two  companies  from 
their  lines  operated  in  Buenos  Aires  were  about  $40,- 
000,000  in  United  States  currency.  A further  interesting 
provision  stipulates  that  not  more  than  eight  per  cent 
profit  on  their  capital  may  be  retained  by  the  companies. 

PROTECTION  OF  CHILDREN  AND  WOMEN  IN  THE  INDUSTRIES 

Especial  solicitude  is  shown  in  all  Latin  American  labor 
legislation  for  children  engaged  in  gainful  occupations. 
Perhaps  the  steps  taken  to  protect  children  against  in- 
dustrial exploitation  is  one  of  the  most  cheering  signs 
of  the  more  modern  Latin  America. 

Naturally  prone  to  that  tenderness  toward  children 
which  characterizes  all  the  Latin  races,  the  Latin  Amer- 
icans have  needed  only  a slight  amount  of  outside  sug- 
gestion, aided  by  the  labors  of  some  noble  women,  like 
Dona  Elvira  Garcia  y Garcia,  principal  of  the  Colegio  Na- 
cional  de  Educandas  of  Cuzco,  Peru,  Dona  Juana  Alarco  de 
Dammert,  of  Lima,  Peru,  and  numerous  others,  to  trans- 
mute into  law  their  affection  for  children  in  general  and 
their  infinite  pity  for  the  helpless  little  folk  who  have 
been  drawn  into  the  hazards  and  hardships  of  industrial 
life. 

Since  the  meeting  of  the  First  Pan  American  Child 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


101 


Welfare  Congress,  held  in  Buenos  Aires  in  1916,  the  efforts 
to  protect  working  children  have  become  well  organized, 
and  remedial  measures  are  reported  at  frequent  intervals 
in  nearly  every  republic. 

The  Peruvian  Government,  after  a careful  inspection 
of  the  hygienic  conditions  of  the  cotton  mills  of  Lima, 
has  ordered  that  no  minors  shall  hereafter  be  employed 
whose  health  has  not  been  certificated  by  the  proper 
authorities;  that  the  work  of  minors  now  employed,  but 
not  coming  within  the  law,  shall  cease ; and  that  extensive 
improvements  must  be  made  in  the  factories  in  the  way 
of  safety  and  sanitation  so  that  the  welfare  of  minors 
and  women  may  be  thoroughly  safeguarded.  The  child 
labor  laws  of  Chile  place  heavy  penalties  on  the  employ- 
ment of  young  children  at  any  kind  of  night  work  or  in 
any  position  in  which  their  physical  or  moral  welfare 
might  be  harmfully  affected.  In  Argentina  the  National 
Health  Department  is  conducting  a searching  survey  of 
the  material  surroundings  of  minors  working  in  industrial 
establishments  and  of  the  subsequent  physical  develop- 
ment of  children  who  have  been  granted  permission  to 
work,  and  is  enforcing  rigorous  medical  examination. 
Children,  in  Mexico,  may  not,  if  under  twelve  years  of 
age,  be  employed  in  any  contract  work ; nor,  if  under 
sixteen,  may  they  engage  in  any  night  work  which  might 
be  classed  as  dangerous  or  unwholesome;  nor  may  chil- 
dren between  the  ages  of  twelve  and  sixteen  be  employed 
in  any  work  for  more  than  six  hours  per  day. 

The  working  conditions  of  women  are  undergoing 
similar  changes,  and  in  Argentina,  Chile,  Uruguay,  Peru, 
and  Mexico  are  slowly  approximating  the  status  which 
obtains  in  the  advanced  industrial  districts  of  the  United 
States  and  Europe.  In  some  of  these  countries,  the  in- 
stallation of  day  nurseries,  the  provision  of  ample  light 
and  seating,  the  protection  of  women  in  delicate  health, 
and  the  use  of  special  devices  to  prevent  deletei'ious  sub- 
stances, such  as  lint  and  dust  in  the  cotton-mills,  from 
entering  the  respiratory  organs  or  the  eyes,  have  been 
made  compulsory.  Whatever  the  situation  of  women  ma$ 


102  Manufacturing  and  Labor 

be  in  the  agricultural  regions  or  in  the  remote  sections 
of  Latin  America  still  closed  to  communication  with  the 
outside  world  and  persisting  in  primitive  habits  and  cus- 
toms, the  fact  is  undeniable  that  the  industries,  instead 
of  lowering  the  living  conditions  of  women  workers,  are 
actually  raising  them. 

The  influence,  indeed,  of  the  modern  factories  in  light- 
ing, sanitation,  orderliness,  and  of  their  adjuncts,  such 
as  the  nurseries,  recreation  grounds,  schools,  and  dis- 
pensaries, on  the  homes  and  environment  of  the  poorer 
classes  is  certain  with  time  to  resemble  that  exerted  by 
our  public  schools  on  the  homes  of  our  poorer  immigrants. 

Such  a remarkable  institution,  for  example,  as  the  wel- 
fare activities  of  the  Guggenheim  mining  works  at 
Chuquicamata,  Chile,  must  perforce  mean  a new  concep- 
tion of  mining  to  the  laborers  and  a new  sense  of 
responsibility  to  the  mine  owners.  Since  the  majority 
of  the  great  industrial  enterprises  are  under  the  control 
of  foreigners,  it  is  altogether  likely  that  they  will  main- 
tain quite  modern  establishments  and  that  they  will,  by 
their  mere  presence  and  number,  compel  all  other  fac- 
tories to  adopt  their  standards. 

In  addition,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  Latin  Amer- 
ican working  people,  once  they  have  discovered  what  they 
think  their  rights,  or  have  enjoyed  new  privileges  granted 
by  their  employers,  can  be  much  more  forceful  in  insist- 
ing on  them  than  our  own  workers.  Once  organized,  as 
they  now  are  in  some  occupations,  they  may,  as  in  Argen- 
tina, unseat  administrations  and  install  their  own,  perhaps 
substituting  thereby,  in  some  republics,  labor  uprisings  for 
political  revolutions.  That  organized  labor  has,  in  an 
extremely  short  space,  made  startling  progress  in  Latin 
American  polities  is  evidenced  by  the  short-lived  “revolu- 
tion” of  1905  in  Argentina,  which,  as  Professor  Shepherd 
explains,  “was  not  primarily  the  work  of  politicians  but 
of  strikers  organized  into  a workingmen’s  federation.” 

Latin  American  workingmen,  besides  doing  for  them- 
selves, organizing  into  unions,  publishing  their  own  period- 
icals, such  as  “El  Trabajo’’  (Labor)  by  the  Federation  of 


Manufacturing  and  Labor  103 

Labor  of  Salvador,  and  taking  an  active  part  in  the  solu- 
tion of  problems  affecting  themselves,  their  employers,  and 
the  State,  have  been  generously  assisted  by  the  private 
corporations  employing  them  and  by  the  national  and  local 
governments.  The  peonage  system,  while  undoubtedly 
existing  in  many  localities  in  the  same  sense  in  which  it 
still  survives  in  some  American  mill-towns,  is  by  and  large 
a thing  of  the  past,  and  in  some  republics — the  most  notable 
recent  example  being  Ecuador — has  received  its  death-blow 
through  formal  legislative  action  decreeing  its  total  aboli- 
tion and  canceling  the  debts  owed  by  any  persons  in  a 
state  of  peonage  to  their  masters. 

Rare,  indeed,  are  the  large  industrial  companies  which 
do  not  comprehend  that  it  is  to  their  advantage  as  well 
as  to  that  of  their  employees  to  introduce,  as  fast  as  they 
have  been  worked  out  in  Europe  and  the  United  States, 
all  those  methods  of  amelioration  and  cooperation  which 
distinguish  the  modern  from  the  feudal  age.  Schools, 
dispensaries,  hospitals,  recreation  grounds,  restaurants  for 
supplying  food  at  cost  are  fast  becoming  a necessary 
adjunct  to  the  great  industrial  establishments  of  Latin 
America.  Housing,  in  particular,  is  occupying  the  atten- 
tion of  mill-owners  and  mine-operators,  many  of  whom 
are  building  suitable,  cheap  dwellings  for  their  working- 
men and  either  renting  them  out  at  a low  price  or  per- 
mitting their  employees  to  purchase  them  on  the  install- 
ment plan.  One  of  the  important  cotton-factories  near 
Pernambuco,  Brazil,  furnishes  cottages  practically  free, 
charging  only  for  ground  rent,  at  the  rate  of  two  or  four 
milreis  (normal  value  $.54)  a month. 

HOUSING  FOR  WORKINGMEN 

The  most  significant  housing  projects,  however,  are  be- 
ing sponsored  by  the  progressive  municipal  and  national 
governments  of  Latin  America,  partly  with  a view  to 
removing  the  shacks  which  deface  many  of  the  beautiful 
cities,  partly  to  improve  the  sanitary  surroundings  of  tho 
poorer  classes,  and  partly  to  encourage  thrift. 

The  city  of  Montevideo  has  long  felt  the  need  of  better 


104 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


housing  accommodations  for  workmen  and  is  on  the  eve 
of  a comprehensive  building  programme  of  an  industrial 
character  in  which  special  attention  will  be  paid  to  modern 
homes  for  its  laboring  population.  The  executive  authori- 
ties of  Peru  have  this  year  approved  the  petition  of  the 
Provincial  Council  of  Callao  to  be  allowed  to  contract  a 
loan  of  45,000  Peruvian  pounds  (normal  value  $4.86)  for 
the  construction  of  workingmen’s  houses,  which  will  be 
sold  at  cost,  payable  in  monthly  installments  during  a 
period  of  fifteen  years.  In  Lima,  a commission  has  been 
appointed  to  acquire  public  lands  from  the  government 
and  private  lands  from  individual  owners  for  the  purpose 
of  erecting  cheap,  sanitary  houses,  to  be  built  of  the  most 
solid,  modern  material,  provided  with  the  best  hygienic 
service,  including  bath,  supplied  with  screens,  and  to  be 
sold  on  the  easiest  possible  terms  to  workingmen.  The 
plans  of  an  Italian  engineer  are  being  utilized  by  the 
Compania  de  Urbanizacion  de  Bogota  for  the  construction 
of  houses  in  an  extensive  workmen’s  addition  to  the  capi- 
tal of  Colombia.  In  Medellin,  Colombia,  real  estate  is  sold 
on  the  installment  plan  to  laborers,  servants,  and  other 
members  of  the  thrifty  working  classes  of  that  district — 
who  are  principally  of  Spanish  Jewish  descent,  and  show 
a most  praiseworthy  ambition  to  own  their  own  property. 

One  of  the  Chilean  laws  of  1906  provides  for  the  con- 
stitution of  councils  in  every  province  and  department 
to  formulate  plans  for  inexpensive,  but  good,  houses  for 
workingmen,  and  specifies  the  sanitary  arrangements 
which  must  be  followed.  These  houses  are  sold  to  work- 
ingmen and  minor  employees  of  the  State  on  the  install- 
ment plan,  and  the  President  was  authorized  to  make 
available  $800,000  for  the  carrying  out  of  the  project. 

COMPARISON  WITH  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  THE  DEVELOPMENT 
OF  INDUSTRIES 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  are  skeptical  regarding 
the  industrial  and  manufacturing  development  of  Latin 
America,  a striking  parallel  might  be  instituted  with  the 
United  States. 


PLAZA  MAYOR,  LIMA. 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


105 


By  1850 — less  than  seventy-five  years  ago — the  rail- 
roads west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  had  hardly  as 
yet  come  into  being.  As  Professor  Clive  Day  remarks  in 
his  History  of  Commerce,  “Not  a mile  of  railroad  had  been 
built  in  Iowa  and  Minnesota,  and  there  was  no  railroad 
connection  with  the  East  in  all  the  country  west  of  the 
Mississippi  and  north  of  the  State  of  Missouri.” 

One  great  crop,  cotton — like  cattle  or  cereals  in  the 
southern  portion  of  South  America,  or  coffee  in  Brazil — 
overshadowed  all  other  exports,  amounting  to  $191,000,- 
000  in  1860  as  contrasted  with  $37,000,000  in  the  exports 
of  manufactures.  Apparently  we  were  not  a great  manu- 
facturing nation  as  late  as  only  sixty  years  ago.  Manu- 
factured articles  constituted  the  majority  of  our  imports, 
and  raw  materials  for  our  own  manufactures  were  brought 
in  from  abroad  only  in  small  quantities. 

A population  [to  cite  Professor  Day  again]  growing  rapidly 
both  in  numbers  and  in  welfare  caused  a demand  for  manu- 
factures which  stimulated  some  producers  to  choose  manufac- 
turing instead  of  farming  for  their  livelihood,  and  the  government 
aided  these  individuals  by  taxing  imported  wares,  and  so  giving 
the  domestic  producer  an  advantage  in  the  home  market. 

The  tendency  toward  high  tariffs  grew,  and  tariff  legis- 
lation sought  to  combine  the  two  aims  of  raising  revenue 
and  encouraging  home  industries. 

It  is  this  era  in  the  history  of  our  commerce  which  the 
latter  portion  of  the  nineteenth  century  in  Latin  America 
most  resembles.  Transportation  and  manufactures  are  in 
their  infancy — though  a much  lustier  infancy  than  the 
general  public  believes  possible — and  the  notion  of  import 
duties  for  the  sake  of  revenue  is  beginning  to  give  way 
to  the  settled  plan  of  taxing  foreign  products  to  a point 
at  which  they  cannot  enter  on  more  than  equal  terms  with 
local  manufactures.  As  the  manufacturing  industries 
broaden  out  in  Latin  America,  the  use  of  a high  tariff 
is  likely  to  be  carried  further  than  in  the  United  States, 
since  the  combination  of  those  who  desire  it  for  revenue 
or  protection,  or  both,  is  stronger  than  in  our  country, 
the  cost  of  living  in  the  centers  of  population  is  higher 


106 


Manufacturing  and  Labor 


and  everybody  expects  to  pay  well  for  products  ordinarily 
imported,  and  the  size  of  the  intelligent  public  opinion 
capable  of  understanding  legislation  and  liable  to  react 
powerfully  against  the  mandates  of  congresses  and  the 
maneuvers  of  the  moneyed  interests  is  at  present,  in  most 
of  the  Latin  American  republics,  limited. 

Latin  America,  if  facts  and  signs  do  not  both  lie,  now 
stands  on  the  threshold  of  an  epoch  corresponding  to  the 
second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  in  our  history — 
an  epoch  of  increasing  immigration,  increasing  exploita- 
tion of  natural  resources,  growth  of  manufactures,  very 
slow,  but  certain,  decrease  in  the  importation  of  manu- 
factured articles,  and  expansion  of  transportation  by  land 
and  by  sea. 

The  absolute  amount  of  imports  will  for  a long  time, 
until  Latin  American  territory  is  much  more  densely  set- 
tled, undoubtedly  increase  greatly,  but  the  establish- 
ment of  each  additional  manufacturing  plant  ultimately 
means  a diminution  of  imports,  of  manufactured  products, 
both  absolutely  and  relatively. 

On  the  social  side  of  industrial  development,  many 
republics  of  Latin  America,  such  as  Argentina,  Chile, 
and  Uruguay,  are  now  nearly  abreast  of  the  other  coun- 
tries of  the  Western  World.  The  struggles  of  capital  and 
labor,  of  capital  and  the  consumer,  of  labor  and  the  con- 
sumer, the  attractive  force  of  the  “tentacular”  cities,  the 
prevalence  of  radical  economic  thought,  and  the  theory 
of  the  responsibility  of  capital  to  society  are  vital  prob- 
lems in  Latin  America  to-day  and  have  not  waited  for 
the  “peak”  of  industrial  development.  Like  Japan, 
several  Latin  American  countries  have  suddenly  been  pre- 
cipitated into  the  technological  era  out  of  a lingering 
medievalism. 


CHAPTER  V 


PARAMOUNT  FOREIGN  INTERESTS 

Without  overexertion,  without  government  subsidies, 
without  American  colonies  in  the  Latin  American  coun- 
tries, without  a credit  system  palatable  to  Latin  Ameri- 
cans, without  a thorough  comprehension  of  Latin  Ameri- 
can needs,  habits,  requirements  in  packing,  or  custom- 
house technicalities — according  to  American  writer  after 
American  writer  who  has  berated  the  apparent  ignorance 
of  our  businessmen  in  details  vital  to  Latin  American 
trade — and  in  the  face  of  deterrent  exchange  values,  our 
manufacturers  and  merchants  nevertheless  did  business 
with  Latin  America  in  1920  to  the  amount  of  $3,256,- 
295,601. 

These  figures  do  not  assume  their  merited  proportions 
until  a brief  calculation  is  made.  Our  total  trade  with 
the  whole  world  in  1920  was  $13,508,157,959.  Hence, 
Latin  America  furnished  one-fourth  of  our  entire  export 
and  import  business.  Our  commerce  with  Latin  America 
was  more  than  twice  as  large  as  our  commerce  with 
Canada,  and  larger  than  our  trade  with  all  the  rest  of 
the  world  exclusive  of  Europe.  Asia  and  Oceania  with 
their  hundreds  of  millions  of  people  bought  less  from  us 
and  sold  less  to  us  than  Latin  America,  with  its  population 
of  about  eighty  millions.  The  population  of  the  world  is 
something  under  two  billions,  and  the  world  therefore 
has  at  least  25  times  as  many  inhabitants  as  Latin  America. 
If  we  had  done  as  much  business  with  the  whole  world 
as  we  did  with  Latin  America  in  1920,  our  foreign  com- 
merce would  have  reached  the  stupendous  total  of  $75,- 
000,000,000.  Evidently  Latin  America  is  not  a customer 
to  be  despised ! 

Further  analysis  reveals  some  highly  instructive  facts. 

107 


108 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


Our  imports  increased  between  1919  and  1920  in  every 
single  country  of  Latin  America  with  the  exception  of 
Brazil,  in  which  a drop  from  $233,570,620  to  $227,587,594', 
or  about  six  million  dollars,  is  to  be  noted.  Our  exports 
in  1920  exceeded  the  figures  for  1919  in  every  single  coun- 
try except  Bolivia,  in  Avhich  a drop  from  $4,771,177  to' 
$4,573,381,  or  less  than  $200,000,  took  place.  The  in- 
creases by  divisions  may  be  seen  at  a glance  in  the  follow- 
ing tables: 


Divisions 

Imports  from 

Exports 

1919 

1920 

1919 

1920 

South  America. . . 

$686,221,358 

440,505,712 

148,926,376 

43,149,859 

$755,579,749 

764,547,538 

180,191,075 

66,675,497 

$433,820,545 

313,459,826 

131,455,101 

55,652,518 

$613,460,082 

581,511,679 

207,854,197 

86,475,784 

Mexico 

Central  America. . 

Total 

$1,318,803,305 

$1,766,993,859 

$934,387,990 

$1,489,301,742 

Grand  total  of  imports  and  exports: 

1920 $3,256,295,601 

1919 2,253,191,295 


1920 $3,256,295,601 

1919 2,253,191,295 

Increase  in  one  year $1,003,104,306 


By  what  agencies  have  we  increased  our  exports  to 
Argentina  from  45  million  dollars  for  the  year  ending 
June  30,  1914 — prior  to  the  war — to  nearly  214  million 
in  1920:  our  exports  to  Brazil,  from  30  million  dollars 
in  1914  to  nearly  157  million  in  1920 : our  exports  to  Cuba, 
from  about  69  million  dollars  in  1914  to  515  million  in 
1920?  Manifestly,  the  rise  in  commodity  prices  cannot 
account  for  the  almost  incredible  difference.  Has  it  been 
due  to  Germany’s  crippled  condition?  Has  the  trade 
flowed  toward  us  because  England,  France,  and  Italy 
have  been  hors  de  combat? 

That  may  all  be,  though  none  of  the  Allies  ever  retired 
one  moment  from  the  Latin  American  trade,  and  Eng- 
land’s competition  has  always  been  strong.  Furthermore, 
the  year  1920  is  several  years  removed  from  the  end  of 
the  war,  and  Europe  has  had  two  years  in  which  to 
recuperate  to  some  extent.  Whatever  the  causes,  the 
evidence  is  plain  that  we  acquired  markets  more  valuable 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests  109 

than  China  and  the  entire  Orient  and  that  the  question 
of  holding  or  giving  up  these  markets  now  rests  with  us. 

Lest  doubt  may  be  felt  as  to  our  ability  to  hold  our 
own  or  to  make  additional  gains,  the  following  data  for 
1921 — the  latest  obtainable  at  the  time  of  this  writing — 
and  corresponding  figures  for  1920  are  given  below. 

U.  S.  Exports  to  the  Four  Principal  Latin  American  Markets  for 
Eleven  Months  Ended  May, 


1920  1921  Increase,  1921 

Argentina $153,559,950  $193,502,710  $ 39,942,760 

Brazil  105,337,298  125,047,837  19,710,539 

Cuba  352,301,480  390,983,306  38,681,826 

Mexico  133,234,296  246,110,448  112,876,152 


In  view  of  the  tremendous  drop  in  our  foreign  exports 
in  general,  our  position  in  Latin  America  may  be  con- 
sidered remarkably  strong. 

To  understand  what  the  success  of  our  businessmen  in 
Latin  American  commerce  means  and  to  realize  what  must 
be  done  in  order  to  hold  the  ground  already  gained,  a 
study  of  the  methods  pursued  by  our  foremost  competitors 
is  indispensable.  Paramount  commercial  interests  and  a 
preponderating  political  and  social  influence  appear  to 
go  so  closely  hand  in  hand  in  Latin  America  that  it  is 
often  difficult  to  tell  which  is  cause  and  which  effect : and 
we  have  much  to  learn  in  this  respect  from  European 
activities  in  Latin  America,  and  particularly  from  those 
of  Great  Britain  and  Germany. 

NATIONAL  MOBILIZATION  FOR  LATIN  AMERICAN  TRADE 

In  the  new  Latin  America — as,  perhaps,  everywhere  in 
the  world  to-day — methods  of  business  approach  to  na- 
tions have  changed  in  a marked  manner.  The  individual 
trader  is  subordinated  to  collective  action  in  the  game  of 
modern  scientific  commercial  exploitation,  and  nations 
mobilize  for  business.  There  is  much  point  to  Dr.  W.  E. 
Aughinbaugh’s  comment  on  the  aftermath  of  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War: 

No  military  campaign  was  ever  planned  with  such  exactness 
of  detail  and  precision  as  that  which  characterized  the  prelim- 


110 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


inary  movements  of  the  expoi'ting  nations  of  Europe  to  acquire 
control  of  Latin  American  markets.  When  the  Franco-Prussian 
war  was  over  and  the  Powers  of  the  Old  World  had  settled  down 
to  a development  of  their  resources,  it  soon  became  apparent  that 
foreign  fields  must  be  sought  in  which  to  dispose  of  the  excess 
products  of  their  industry.  With  that  object  in  view  governments, 
trade  associations,  manufacturers,  shippers,  exporters,  civic  and 
social  societies,  colleges,  merchants,  and  individuals  united  in 
one  harmonious  movement  to  accomplish  this  purpose. 

The  situation  is  identical  to-day,  with  the  United  States, 
Japan,  and  even  China  and  Czecho-Slovakia  as  added 
participants.  What  the  Spanish  captains  secured  by  bold 
strokes,  modern  industrial  organization  is  trying  to  obtain 
by  the  pressure  of  collective  action.  A common  form  of 
such  pressure  is  seen  in  the  flattering  visit  to  Latin 
America  of  the  particular  nation,  so  to  speak,  in  the  per- 
son of  its  prime  minister  or  its  secretary  of  state,  who, 
by  well-chosen  words  on  the  public  platform  or  in  news- 
paper interviews,  knits  his  own  expatriate  countrymen 
together  in  a feeling  of  enthusiasm  for  their  fatherland, 
and  incidentally — and  primarily,  be  it  said — “drums  up” 
trade  for  his  country.  So  important  has  this  role  of  the 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  or  the  Secretary  of  State 
become  of  late  that  the  query  naturally  arises  as  to 
whether  the  time  thus  spent  may  not  be  worth  fully  as 
much  as  a great  deal  of  the  regular  routine  of  office  of 
these  high  functionaries. 

M.  Clemenceau  tours  some  of  the  South  American  re- 
publics, creates  a wave  of  interest  in  France,  and  accom- 
plishes his  ulterior  purpose,  in  so  far  as  the  French  are 
concerned.  Signor  Orlando,  the  former  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs  of  Italy,  is  received  with  enthusiasm  in 
the  Argentine,  where  his  counti'ymen  number  about  2,000,- 
000,  or  nearly  one-fourth  of  the  total  population,  and 
returns  home,  satisfied  that  Italian  commerce  has  been 
stimulated  by  his  visit.  The  Spanish  Infanta  honors  Latin 
America  with  her  presence,  and  King  Alfonso  promises 
to  follow  in  the  near  future:  and  an  impetus  has  been 
given  to  Spanish  wines,  olive-oil,  cork,  fruits,  spices,  and 
manufactures.  Secretary  of  State  Colby  visits  South 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests  111 

America,  convinces  himcelf  that  we  have  remained  too 
long  in  the  dark  about  the  world  to  the  south  of  us, 
leaves  a message  of  good-will  from  the  United  States  to 
our  neighbors,  and  undoubtedly,  without  mentioning  it, 
to  be  sure,  reminds  the  South  American  public  that  we 
manufacture  and  sell  many  articles  of  superior  merit. 

But  the  temporary  benefits  gained  by  the  visits  of  dis- 
tinguished officials  is,  after  all,  not  the  only  nor  the  most 
lasting  benefit.  Through  them,  we  are  really  coming  to 
believe  that  we  have  been  guilty  of  colossal  misconceptions 
and  that  we  are  not  the  sole  arbiters  of  the  destinies  of 
the  Western  Hemisphere,  for  each  returned  Secretary  of 
State,  senator,  or  other  dignitary  brings  back  the  same 
tale  of  extraordinary  natural  wealth,  social  progress,  and 
unlimited  prospects. 

CAPTURING  LATIN  AMERICAN  TRADE  IN  THE  PAST 

How  different  the  present  solicitude  for  Latin  American 
good-will  is  from  the  cavalier  attitude  of  the  past,  and 
how  great  a tribute  to  Latin  American  evolution,  may  be 
judged  from  the  methods  formerly  pursued  toward  the 
Latin  American  countries. 

Until  well  into  the  eighteenth  country,  Spain,  as  has 
been  mentioned,  enjoyed  in  Latin  America  one  of  the  mosf 
rigid  monopolies  the  world  has  ever  known.  Trade  was 
prohibited  not  only  between  the  colonies  and  other  Euro- 
pean nations,  but  even  among  the  colonies  themselves. 
To  prevent,  for  example,  interchange  of  goods  between 
Argentina  and  Peru,  a custom-house  was  established  at 
Cordoba,  and  a duty  of  fifty  per  cent  levied  on  everything 
in  transit  in  either  direction.  Such  a system  could  not 
endure.  Smuggling  became  a fairly  honorable  practice, 
and  English  and  Dutch  freebooters  reaped  the  benefits. 

Portugal  modeled  its  commercial  policy  on  that  of 
Spain,  and  kept  for  itself  the  profits  of  Brazilian  trade  by 
the  expedient  of  chartering  various  Brazilian  trading  com- 
panies. During  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
Holland  occupied  the  northern  provinces  of  Brazil  and 
hoped  to  found  a vast  empire  with  unlimited  commercial 


112 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


possibilities,  but  was  evicted  by  the  formidable  Joao 
Fernandes  Vieyra  in  1654.  In  1710  and  1711  France 
attacked  Rio  de  Janeiro  under  Admirals  Duclerc  and 
Duguay  Trouin,  but  after  an  initial  defeat  and  a succeed- 
ing victory,  renounced  her  project  of  invading  Brazil. 

Great  Britain  had  kept  a watchful  eye  on  Latin  America 
since  the  days  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  Drake,  Hawkins, 
and  Morgan,  and  stormed  Buenos  Aires  in  1806  and  1808 : 
but  her  troops  under  General  Beresford  and  General 
Whitelock  were  forced  to  capitulate  by  the  citizenry. 

Other  desultory  attacks  were  made  on  the  Latin  Amer- 
ican colonies,  without,  however,  shaking  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  control.  But  by  the  first  quarter  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  Spanish  America  through  its  own  efforts 
finally  succeeded  in  throwing  off  its  Spanish  political 
and  economic  shackles,  and  Brazil  became  the  head  of  its 
own  mother-country.  The  Monroe  Doctrine,  enunciated 
in  1823,  put  an  end  to  the  Latin  American  aspirations  of 
the  European  governments : and  trade  could  proceed  only 
along  the  lines  of  peace. 

Great  Britain,  France,  and  the  United  States  became 
the  foremost  competitors  in  the  Latin  American  market, 
Great  Britain  maintaining  her  ascendancy  undisputed 
until  the  advent  of  Germany,  about  a generation  ago. 
Spain,  through  racial  sympathy,  and  France,  through  her 
ideals,  literature,  and  art,  have  in  the  meantime  exerted 
a pervasive  commercial  influence  on  all  Latin  America, 
but  never  of  the  first  magnitude.  The  European  War 
clipped  the  wings  of  Germany  and  added  pinions  to  the 
Latin  American  commerce  of  the  United  States. 

Such,  in  brief,  have  been  the  significant  moments  in 
the  development  of  foreign  trade  with  Latin  America. 
Among  the  outstanding  facts  are  these:  (1)  that  the 

European  policy  for  capturing  Latin  American  trade  has 
passed  successively  through  the  stages  of  armed  attack'; 
unorganized  individual  trafficking,  and  concerted  action ; 
and  (2)  that  the  three  leading  nations  in  Latin  American 
trade,  namely,  Great  Britain,  Germany,  and  the  United' 
States,  have  been  of  different  stock,  different  traditions, 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests  113 

and  different  ideals  from  the  peoples  with  whom  they  have 
dealt.  The  latter  point  is  especially  significant  because 
it  is  a cogent  answer  to  the  assertion  that  Latin  America, 
even  in  commerce,  is  moved  primarily  by  feelings  of  con- 
sanguinity. The  differences  noted  by  such  writers  as  Mr. 
C.  W.  Domville-Fife  have  never  kept  nations  apart,  par- 
ticularly in  economic  matters,  when  the  logic  of  events 
or  necessity  has  demanded  that  they  stand  together. 

Many  of  the  steps  taken  by  foreign  countries,  and 
especially  Great  Britain  and  Germany,  in  strengthening 
their  business  relations  with  Latin  America,  have  a direct' 
application  to  our  future  economic  and  political  stand- 
ing in  Latin  America. 

The  extreme  solicitude  of  Great  Britain  for  its  Latin 
American  markets  is  natural.  In  this  portion  of  the  globe, 
Latin  America  is  her  best  customer.  Great  Britain  ex- 
ported in  1920  goods  to  the  value  of  over  115,000,000 
pounds  sterling  to  South  America,  the  West  Indies,  and 
Central  America — which  far  exceeds  her  exports  amount- 
ing to  43,792,136  pounds  to  Canada  and  even  the  77,131,- 
266  pounds’  worth  of  merchandise  shipped  to  the  United 
States.  This  business  is  the  result  of  sedulous  and  care- 
ful nursing.  True,  the  British  merchant  has,  like  his 
American  compeer,  been  scolded  in  the  newspapers,  trade- 
journals  and  books  for  his  sluggishness  and  lack  of 
adaptability:  and  His  Britannic  Majesty’s  Minister  at 
Montevideo,  Mr.  R.  T.  Kennedy,  voiced,  just  before  the 
war,  the  sentiments  of  a large  section  of  his  countrymen 
in  words  that  appear  to  have  been  taken  bodily  from  some 
of  our  own  writings  of  the  past  two  or  three  years. 

At  the  risk  of  repeating  well-known  advice  [he  declared]  I am 
bound  to  warn  British  traders  that  they  must  “wake  up”  and 
become  less  conservative  in  their  attitude,  and  more  adaptable  in 
their  procedure.  They  must  watch  the  market,  study  the  people, 
learn  their  wants,  acquire  a knowledge  of  the  language,  and 
when  they  have  done  all  this,  they  must  endeavor,  like  German 
merchants,  with  ready  eagerness  to  meet  and  satisfy  those  wants 
and  requirements. 

Nevertheless,  Great  Britain  has  little  reason  to  be  dis- 
satisfied with  what  her  merchants  have  achieved  in  Latin 


114 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


America.  Exports  of  more  than  115,000,000  pounds 
sterling  to  one  territorial  division  during  a period  of  read- 
justment following  a tremendous  crisis  constitute  no  mean 
feat. 


BRITISH  CONFIDENCE  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

The  British  commercial  edifice  in  Latin  America  is  with- 
out question  the  most  substantial  structure  erected  by  any 
foreign  nation.  Its  foundations  are  an  integral  part  of 
the  foundations  of  most  of  the  important  Latin  American 
countries.  It  has  been  duplicated  by  Germany,  and  in 
a measure  improved  upon,  but  has  earned  a reputation 
for  solidity,  for  sincerity,  oftentimes  withheld  from  the 
more  brilliant,  better  advertised  rival  house.  “The  word 
of  an  Englishman”  ( palabra  de  ingles ) is  the  gold  standard 
of  commercial  honor  throughout  Latin  America. 

The  keystone  of  British  success  is  the  demonstrated  con- 
fidence of  British  businessmen  in  Latin  America  and  the 
Latin  American  people.  The  proofs  of  their  confidence 
are  met  in  tangible  form  on  every  hand. 

Englishmen  do  not  hesitate  to  invest  in  Latin  American 
properties  or  securities,  as  do  Americans,  but  appear  to 
rate  them  as  high  as  securities  nearer  home.  The  amount 
of  British  investments  in  South  America  is  calculated  at 
over  five  and  a quarter  billion  dollars  (about  £1,050,000,- 
000).  For  a representative  six  months’  period,  according 
to  former  President  de  la  Plaza,  of  Argentina,  British 
capital  invested  in  Argentina  ($64,046,000)  exceeded  the 
sum  invested  in  Russia  ($61,220,500)  and  in  the  United 
States  ($43,995,500)  and  nearly  equaled  the  total  British 
investments  in  the  rest  of  Europe.  The  nitrate  oficinas 
of  Chile  have  drawn  nearly  half  their  capital  from  British 
sources,  and  many  other  huge  enterprises  all  over  Latin 
America  are  dependent  on  British  money. 

That  the  confidence  placed  in  Latin  American  securities 
is,  in  general,  deserved  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that 
about  $100,000,000  represents  the  annual  returns  in  the 
shape  of  dividends  and  interest  on  their  Argentine  proper- 
ties to  British  investors,  and  that  the  average  yield  on  the 


SCENE  ON  THE  OROYA  RAILWAY. 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


115 


five  and  a quarter  billion  dollars  invested  in  South  America 
by  Englishmen  was,  in  1913,  four  and  seven-tenths  per- 
cent— a much  better  rate,  it  may  be  supposed,  than  could 
then  have  been  obtained  at  home  as  an  average  return  on 
such  a huge  investment  spread  over  highly  diversified  in- 
dustries and  properties. 

But  such  profits  represent  by  no  means  the  most  impor- 
tant or  the  most  durable  advantages  derived  by  Great 
Britain  from  its  active  support  of  the  vigorous  young 
nations  of  Latin  America. 

One  of  the  best  illustrations  of  the  subsidiary  benefits 
secured  by  British  investments  is  to  be  found  in  the  role 
played  by  British  operated  railways  in  Latin  America. 
From  one  end  of  Latin  America  to  the  other,  British  money 
has  stimulated  the  construction  of  railroads  and  dominated 
their  operation.  Of  the  200,948,125  bolivares  (quoted  at 
$.17,  March  19,  1921),  for  example,  invested  in  Venezuelan 
railways,  45  per  cent,  or  nearly  one-half,  was  advanced  by 
British  interests.  Out  of  approximately  25,000  miles  of 
railways  in  operation  in  Argentina  to-day,  over  14,000 
miles,  bringing  in  gross  receipts  in  1920  of  more  than 
£37,000,000,  are  under  British  control.  A Canadian  com- 
pany, capitalized  at  $13,000,000,  supplies  the  electric  street- 
car transportation  for  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil.  In  like  manner, 
wherever  one  turns  in  South  America,  one  is  brought  face 
to  face  with  instances  of  Great  Britain’s  predominance  in 
all  that  relates  to  the  handling  of  passengers  and  freight. 

The  strategic  economic  value  of  her  combined  control 
of  ocean  and  land  transportation  cannot  be  computed  in 
pounds  and  pence.  The  railroads  not  only  serve  as  feeders 
to  numberless  British  concerns  which  manufacture  rolling 
stock  and  equipment:  they  also  affect  the  market  for 
British  coal  and  the  acquisition  and  working  of  oil  prop- 
erties, which  are  now  becoming  one  of  Great  Britain’s  chief 
concerns.  Thus  three  of  the  British  railroads  in  Argentina 
have  recently  joined  forces  in  the  exploitation  of  an  oil 
concession  in  the  Comodoro  Rivadavia  fields,  and  are  likely 
in  consequence  to  solve  many  of  their  fuel  problems,  be- 
sides holding  in  friendly  hands  supplies  of  the  precious 


116  Paramount  Foreign  Interests 

combustible  so  vital  to  the  motive  power  of  the  British 
Government.  The  close  connection  between  command  of 
the  railroads  and  such  economic  and  political  phases  as 
the  moving  of  crops,  the  influence  exerted  on  railroad 
employees  and  labor  in  allied  branches,  and  the  executive 
opportunities  for  Englishmen  attracted  to  Latin  America, 
is  so  evident  as  not  to  need  pointing  out. 

LATEST  AMERICAN  TRUST  IN  BRITISH  MANAGEMENT 

Due  to  the  Englishman’s  reputation  for  efficiency, 
honesty,  and  business-sense,  other  public  and  quasi-public 
utilities  have  confidently  been  given  over  to  his  charge. 
Tramway-systems,  docks,  water,  light,  and  power  plants 
have  been  initiated  through  British  activity,  and  have  be- 
come landmarks  of  high  advertising  value  to  the  British 
nation.  On  occasions,  Latin  American  republics  have  pre- 
ferred British  supervision  to  the  kind  of  attention  paid 
by  their  own  governmental  departments,  as  is  evidenced 
by  the  agreement  lately  entered  into  between  Peru  and 
the  London  Marconi  Company,  whereby  the  management 
of  the  Peruvian  postal,  telegraphic,  and  radiotelegraphic 
services  was  turned  over  to  the  latter.  For  a long  time, 
the  banking  facilities  of  several  of  the  largest  countries 
in  Latin  America  were  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of 
British  interests,  and  these  banks  have  not  only  retained 
the  patronage  and  favor  of  their  clients,  but  also  expanded 
immensely  and  paid  handsome  dividends. 

The  first  bank  in  Argentina,  originally  known  as  the 
Casa  de  Moncda,  was  established  in  1822  by  English  and 
Argentine  capital.  Half  a century  ago,  the  London  and 
River  Plate  Bank  was  founded  and  now  has  branches  in 
most  of  the  important  towns  of  the  southern  half  of  the 
continent,  extending  its  accommodations  into  Brazil  and 
last  year  (1920)  opening  a Paraguayan  branch  at  Asuncion. 
Its  prosperous  condition  has  permitted  it  to  declare  divi- 
dends of  twenty  per  cent  on  many  occasions.  The  London 
and  Brazilian  Bank  has  had  a similar  history.  The 
amalgamation  of  the  powerful  Anglo-South  American  Bank 
with  the  British  Bank  of  South  America,  now  in  process, 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests  117 

should  place  the  combination  at  the  head  of  Latin  American 
banking  houses.  Various  other  British  and  Canadian  banks 
of  considerable  magnitude  testify  to  the  importance  of  the 
Latin  American  field  in  the  eyes  of  British  financiers. 

The  salient  feature  of  Great  Britain’s  commercial  policy 
in  Latin  America  has  been  the  formation  of  business 
colonies  in  the  foreign  countries  which  serve  as  permanent 
agents  and  enter  into  local  business  affairs  with  the  status 
of  home  concerns. 

The  Englishman,  as  a rule,  does  not  affiliate  himself 
closely  with  the  social  units  about  him,  but  maintains  an 
attitude  of  aloofness,  sticks  to  his  English  habits,  plays 
his  English  sports,  has  his  five-o’clock  tea,  dresses  in  the 
English  style,  and  surrounds  himself  with  architectural 
and  scenic  beauties  reminiscent  of  his  beloved  Albion.  He 
lives  his  life  approximately  as  he  would  have  lived  it  in 
England.  It  is  not  he  who  conforms : nor  is  his  non- 
conformity a sign  of  surliness  or  lack  of  sociability.  If 
the  ways  of  other  peoples  had  an  especial  attraction  for 
him,  he  would  adopt  them:  but  they  do  not.  Others  may 
take  up  his  sports,  his  sporting  terms,  his  styles,  his  teas 
• — as  they  usually  do  for  purposes  of  invidious  distinction 
in  Latin  America  wherever  there  is  a nucleus  of  English- 
men— but  he  does  not  proselyte. 

He  carries  on  his  business  on  the  same  general  principle, 
though  as  a business-creature  he  is  much  less  inflexible 
than  as  a social  creature.  He  persists,  to  be  sure,  in 
“getting  up”  his  goods  plainly,  declines  more  than  three 
months’  credit,  even  if  a month  is  lost  before  the  consign- 
ments actually  reach  their  destination,  and  does  not  like  to 
listen  to  renewals.  On  the  other  hand,  he  realizes  that 
he  must  have  daily  contact  with  his  customers  and  does 
not  attempt  to  sell  solely  from  his  offices  in  London,  Man- 
chester, or  Birmingham  or  through  occasional  drummers. 
He  makes  concessions  in  the  spirit  of  the  British  colonial 
soldier  or  administrator,  establishing  commercial  outposts 
on  the  time-honored  British  colonial  plan,  guiding  himself 
generally  by  local  conditions,  but  practically  never,  unless 
he  has  come  as  a poor  immigrant  to  till  the  soil,  severing 


118 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


ties  with  organizations  in  Great  Britain  and  standing  out 
as  an  individual.  In  a word,  he  remains,  no  matter  where 
he  may  be,  an  official  of  that  wonderful  administrative 
bureau  called  the  United  Kingdom. 

These  tendencies  quite  perceptibly  distinguish  English 
methods  in  Latin  America  from  German  or  American 
methods.  They  perpetuate  the  colonial  system  in  a modern 
environment.  They  create  an  extension  of  Great  Britain 
outward,  while  at  the  same  time  utilizing  foreign  oppor- 
tunities to  the  growth  and  increment  of  the  foreign  coun- 
tries. In  other  words,  foreign  countries  are  regarded  by 
British  businessmen  as  territories  or  possessions  acquired 
by  courtesy,  to  be  developed  both  for  their  own  sake  and 
for  the  well-being  of  British  business.  They  involve  a 
species  of  duty  or  moral  responsibility. 

Sir  Woodman  Burbidge,  the  managing  director  of 
Harrods  Department  Stores,  summarizes  as  follows  the 
farsighted  endeavors  of  his  house,  which  is  spending  two 
million  pounds  in  the  extension  of  its  Argentine  branches : 

I should  like  to  emphasize  one  fact  which  I believe  will  illus- 
trate in  a clear  manner  that,  while  Harrods  is  a business  firm, 
it  is  also  striving  to  do  its  share  in  the  development  of  Argen- 
tina and  her  wonderful  resources.  I want  to  point  out  that  a 
large  part  of  the  money  mentioned  will  be  used  in  erecting  fac- 
tories where  we  shall  employ  thousands  of  workpeople,  and  I 
fully  expect  that  when  we  are  in  full  working  order  we  shall 
be  paying  salaries  to  15,000  people.  It  may  not  be  generally 
known  that  we  shall  be  turning  out  seventy  million  pesos  worth 
of  manufactured  goods  in  Argentina  by  the  end  of  1921,  a fifty 
per  cent,  increase  on  the  previous  year’s  figures.  I myself  have 
the  most  unbounded  confidence  in  the  possibilities  of  Argentina, 
and  one  of  my  ambitions  is  to  see  the  industrial  side  of  commerce 
here  well  developed,  and  placed  in  the  high  position  to  which 
it  is  entitled. 

That  the  broad  vision  of  the  British  trader  is  appreciated 
in  some  of  the  Latin  American  countries,  a paragraph 
from  an  editorial  in  the  influential  Chilean  newspaper, 
El  Mercurio,  of  November  8,  1919,  attests  with  feeling: 

We  knew  that  in  Great  Britain  we  had  the  great  master  of 
our  fundamental  political  institutions  and  of  our  navy ; the 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


119 


powerful  friend  who  guaranteed  our  external  credit,  always  giv- 
ing an  adequate  reception  to  our  signature;  the  admirable  cham- 
pion of  our  trade,  who  sent  us  ships  and  supplies,  received  our 
own  products,  and  firmly  established  on  our  soil  strong  aggrega- 
tions of  capital  and  solid  business  enterprises;  but  it  was  still 
to  be  our  privilege  to  see,  as  we  see  at  this  moment,  that  in  her  we 
could  also  find  a sincere  observer  of  our  life  and  institutions,  who 
understands  thoroughly  the  evolution  and  the  present  state  of  this 
young  nation  which  is  now  facing  the  future  with  confidence. 

Something,  evidently,  in  the  British  temperament,  which 
defies  analysis,  has  been  responsible  for  the  freedom  from 
suspicion  of  sinister  motives  with  which  British  progress 
in  Latin  America  has  been  viewed.  Neither  of  the  lead- 
ing rivals  of  Great  Britain  has  been  able  to  inspire  such 
trustful  confidence. 

THE  GERMAN  “DRIVE”  IN  LATIN  AMERICA  NOT  SINISTER 

Perhaps  more  than  any  other  foreign  country,  Germany 
has  been  suspected  of  designs  on  Latin  America  through 
the  medium  of  peaceful  penetration.  The  ships,  banks, 
commercial  establishments,  agricultural  and  mineral  hold- 
ings, and  capital  of  Germans  or  of  persons  of  German 
extraction;  the  colonies  composed  of  German  families;  the 
scientists,  teachers,  and  public  officials  having  German 
affiliations,  were  all  summoned  during  the  war  to  assist 
and  befriend  the  mother  country  in  every  possible  way. 
The  “drive”  on  Latin  American  sentiment  was  directed 
through  governmental  channels,  and  an  air  of  cohesion 
obtained  which  ended  by  convincing  many  observers  that 
a real  programme  had  always  been  at  the  bottom  of  the 
German  campaign  for  Latin  American  markets. 

All  that  can  be  proved,  nevertheless,  is  that  German 
companies  and  individuals  were,  before  the  War,  compet- 
ing with  other  companies  and  individuals  and  that  the 
government  was  lending  them  the  support  which  it  gave 
German  business  all  over  the  world.  The  use  made  of 
German  connections  in  Latin  America  did  not  differ 
materially  from  the  use  made  of  similar  connections  in 
the  United  States. 

The  methods  by  which  German  trade  became  in  a short 


120 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


time  a formidable  rival  of  the  commerce  of  other  nations 
dealing  with  Latin  America  are  a fascinating  study  in 
efficiency.  They  represent  the  application  of  psychological 
principles  to  business. 

Germany,  like  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  is 
a non-Latin  country  and  has  enjoyed  none  of  the  initial 
advantages  of  identity  of  race,  traditions,  customs  and 
manners,  and  religion  on  which  Spain,  Italy,  Portugal, 
and  in  a measure,  France,  have  always  been  able  to  count. 
It  could  not  rely  on  proximity  to  any  part  of  Latin 
America,  as  could  the  United  States  with  reference  to 
Mexico,  Central  America,  the  West  Indies,  and  the  north- 
ern regions  of  South  America,  to  favor  its  trade,  nor  could 
it  depend  upon  an  experience  tried  by  time,  as  was  the 
case  with  Great  Britain,  to  spread  its  commercial  influence 
at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century.  Its  upward 
thrust  started  little  more  than  a generation  ago,  in  the 
eighties,  and  what  it  has  accomplished,  surmounting  more 
difficulties  than  any  nation  dealing  with  Latin  America, 
is  of  very  recent  date.  Its  growth  as  a power  in  Latin 
America  is  comparable  and  almost  synchronous  with  the 
development  of  Japan  as  a world  power. 

That  phase  of  German  expansion  in  Latin  America  which 
is  now  commonly  treated  as  the  most  premeditated  and 
possibly  the  most  dangerous  to  Latin  America  and  to 
foreign  interests  in  Latin  America  appears  to  have  come 
about  perfectly  naturally,  without  malice  aforethought,  and 
so  to  speak,  accidentally.  German  immigration  into  Latin 
America  was  not  an  invasion  or  an  onslaught,  but  a slow 
current  running  parallel  with  the  stream  of  immigration 
into  the  United  States  and  originating  in  the  same  political, 
economic,  and  social  conditions. 

As  has  been  pointed  out  by  Mr.  William  C.  Wells,  of 
the  Pan  American  Union,  the  first  German  colony  was 
established  in  Brazil  at  Leopoldina,  in  the  State  of  Bahia, 
in  1818,  more  than  a hundred  years  ago.  The  influx  into 
Rio  Grande  do  Sul  and  Santa  Catharina  began  in  1824 
and  continued  at  a high  rate  for  about  fifty  years,  there- 
fore antedating  the  Pan-Germanic  ambitions  of  the  last 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests  121 

of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern.  The  first  Chilean  colonies 
were  established  in  1850,  at  Valdivia. 

No  extraordinary  accretions  have  been  made  to  the 
German  population  of  Latin  America  since  the  unification 
of  the  German  Empire — the  consummation  of  which 
marks  the  beginning  of  the  modern  combative  spirit  in 
Germany — and  the  bugaboo  of  a Germanized  Latin 
America  can  safely  be  said  to  have  existed  only  in  the 
imagination  of  prejudiced  persons.  The  total  German 
population  of  Brazil  to-day  probably  does  not  exceed 
500,000,  and  that  of  Latin  America  as  a whole,  1,000,000. 
The  proportion  of  Germans  to  the  entire  population  in 
Latin  America  or  in  any  single  Latin  American  country 
is  much  smaller  than  in  the  United  States,  where,  in  1910, 
there  were  2,501,333  Germans  among  the  foreign-born 
population  and  nearly  8,000,000  of  German  stock. 

The  importance  of  German  settlements  to  the  commerce 
of  Germany  did  not,  of  course,  escape  the  eyes  of  the 
Imperial  Government : but  it  is  impossible,  with  the  facts 
before  us,  to  subscribe  to  the  fanciful  ideas  lately  current 
concerning  the  subservience  of  German  colonization  to 
Pan-German  plans.  The  German  settlers  in  Latin  America 
have  wielded  no  undue  political  influence  nor  constituted 
the  most  significant  element  in  the  German  commercial 
campaign : and  great  numbers  of  them  have  intermarried 
with  Latin  American  families  and  became  ardent  Brazil- 
ians, Chileans,  Paraguayans,  Argentinians,  Guatemalans. 
Such  incidents  as  the  administrative  pro-Germanism  of 
Argentina  during  the  War — which  ran  counter  to  the 
popular  feeling — were  due,  not  mainly  to  the  influence 
of  citizens  of  German  extraction,  but  to  the  machinations 
of  German  ambassadors  and  capitalists  and  to  the  polit- 
ical notions  of  such  men  as  President  Irigoyen  as  to 
what  was  best  for  their  country. 

Looked  at  in  judicious  retrospect,  the  instrumentali- 
ties invoked  in  behalf  of  Germany’s  “place  in  the  sun’’ 
in  Latin  America  offer  nothing  diabolic.  They  are  in 
fact,  for  the  most  part,  German  imitations  of  the  methods 


122  Paramount  Foreign  Interests 

employed  by  British  manufacturers,  merchants,  financiers, 
and  governmental  officials. 

Before  the  War,  Germany  held  the  third  place  among 
foreign  countries  trading  with  Latin  America.  It  was 
still  far  behind  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  in  the 
amount  of  its  purchases  from  Latin  America.  In  1913 
Germany  bought  only  193  million  dollars’  worth  of  Latin 
American  products  to  Great  Britain’s  314  million,  and 
the  United  States’  481  million:  and  much  of  what  it 
bought  was  destined  for  the  United  States,  and  not  for 
its  own  centers.  But  what  is  prophetic  is  that  Germany 
was  quickly  overhauling  Great  Britain  in  exports  to  Latin 
America,  and  particularly  to  the  southern  section  of  South 
America,  which  had  been  a British  stronghold  from  time 
immemorial. 

To  the  $328,951,681  of  exports  from  the  United  States 
to  Latin  America  in  1913  and  to  the  $284,786,580  of  Great 
Britain,  Germany  could  oppose  $219,566,276:  and  to  Great 
Britain’s  exports  in  1913  valued  at  $255,034,179  to  the 
six  southern  countries  of  Argentina,  Chile,  Uruguay, 
Paraguay,  Brazil,  and  Bolivia,  Germany  could  oppose  its 
own  exports  to  the  same  countries  amounting  to 
$175,744,271. 

Because  of  such  significant  facts,  many  observers  have 
unquestionably  felt  that,  but  for  the  war,  Germany  and 
Great  Britain  might  be  in  reversed  positions  to-day  with 
regard  to  exports  to  Latin  America. 

All  the  agencies  which  Great  Britain  had  used  in  the 
extension  of  her  Latin  American  interests  Germany 
employed  with  scientific  efficiency,  and  usually  improved 
upon  her  model.  The  German  merchant  marine  rapidly 
overtook  the  commercial  navies  of  such  maritime  coun- 
tries as  Holland,  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark,  and 
soon  was  giving  the  British  merchant  marine  a close  race. 
In  passenger  service,  German  steamships  became  the  ne  plus 
ultra:  in  freight-handling,  their  organization,  helped  by 
the  care  given  to  each  minute  detail  by  the  German  shipper, 
was  nearly  perfect.  Investments  were  generously  made, 
but  they  were  commonly  of  a private  nature,  and  a neces- 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests  123 

sary  corollary  to  the  furtherance  of  ordinary  business 
transactions.  The  assumption,  indeed,  that  Germany  was 
attempting  to  control  whole  governments  in  Latin  America 
through  fiscal  loans  has  never  been  based  on  anything 
more  substantial  than  hostile  prejudice,  for,  of  the  loans 
negotiated  by  Chile  since  1885,  only  13y2  per  cent  was 
assumed  by  Germany ; in  the  foreign  loans  contracted 
by  Argentina  down  to  1913,  Germany’s  share  amounted 
to  only  a little  over  £2,000,000  out  of  a total  of  more  than 
£136,000,000 ; and  among  the  majority  of  Latin  American 
countries  Germany  has  had  practically  no  participation 
at  all  in  loans  contracted  by  the  individual  governments. 
Strong  German  banks,  such  as  the  Banco  Aleman 
Transatlantic,  the  Banco  Germanico,  the  Brasilianische 
Bank  fur  Deutschland,  the  Banco  de  Chile  y Alemania, 
were  established,  but  they  operated,  like  most  foreign 
banks  in  Latin  America,  largely  on  the  money  of  de- 
positors and  the  capital  furnished  by  Latin  American 
citizens.  During  most  of  their  history,  the  German  banks 
in  Latin  America  played  no  imperial  role,  and  were  able 
to  be  of  only  minor  assistance  to  Germany  at  the  out- 
break of  the  War. 

That  all  these  auxiliaries  of  German  commerce — bank- 
ing, loans,  investments,  shipping,  and  colonization — 
might,  but  for  the  War,  have  become  a powerful  govern- 
mental arm  in  such  imperialistic  aims  in  Latin  America 
as  were  cherished  by  the  Pan-German  party,  is  possible. 
Germany’s  policy  of  backing  German  commerce  by  official 
encouragement  and  by  the  injection  of  a coordinating 
German  consciousness  into  private  enterprises  might  well 
have  led  to  far-reaching  autocratic  consequences.  But 
no  real  evidence  is  at  hand  to  prove  that  a “master- 
mind” was  directing  from  Germany  the  daily  schedule 
of  German  business  in  Latin  America. 

GERMAN  DOCTRINE  OF  “SERVICE” 

In  reality,  though  these  agencies  contributed  in  a highly 
significant  way  to  Germany’s  excellent  standing  in  Latin 
America,  by  far  her  most  effective  asset  has  been  her 


124 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


doctrine  of  “service”  as  applied  to  international  trade. 
Germany  alone  has  supplied  modern  “service”  to  Latin 
America.  Not  only  have  great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  been  woefully  deficient  in  their  conception  of  inter- 
national trade  “service,”  but  even  France  and  Spain, 
zealous  as  they  are  for  Latin  American  patronage,  have 
rarely  given  the  subject  a moment’s  thought. 

Spanish  Americans  and  Spaniards  living  in  America  [observes 
Don  Ricardo  Beltran  y Rozpide]  are  more  consistent  than  we. 
They  have  their  eyes  fixed  steadfastly  on  Spain,  and  their  great 
newspapers  devote  a large  amount  of  space  to  Spanish  politics, 
to  our  men,  to  our  scientific  and  literary  movements.  They  know 
us  much  better  over  there  than  we  know  them.  Here  we  do 
not  even  read  their  newspapers.  There  are  in  Madrid  societies 
frequented  by  our  most  prominent  political,  literary,  and  scien- 
tific personages  in  the  libraries  and  reading-rooms  of  which  you 
will  not  find  a single  Spanish  American  newspaper  nor  a single 
Spanish  American  periodical. 

Germany,  on  the  contrary,  systematized  her  informa- 
tional and  business  resources  with  a view  to  eliminating 
haphazard  procedure  in  her  dealings  with  Latin  America. 
Reliable  reports  were  made  available  to  her  merchants 
and  financiers.  A central  bureau  for  emigration  to  Latin 
America  Avas  operated  under  governmental  direction.  The 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  languages  were  practically  and 
intensively  taught.  Hispanic  culture  and  social  customs 
were  included  in  the  courses  followed  by  men  preparing 
for  the  Latin  American  field.  Scientists  and  scholars  were 
put  freely  at  the  disposition  of  Latin  American  govern- 
ments, and  scholars  and  scientists  from  Latin  America, 
such  as  Dr.  Oswaldo  Cruz  of  Brazil,  were  welcomed  into 
German  intellectual  circles  and  institutions,  imbued  with 
respectful  admiration  for  German  methods  and  learning, 
and  honored  by  election  to  German  societies  and  by 
awards  of  distinction.  The  business  practices  of  Latin 
America  Avere  diligently  conned,  and,  Avith  the  slogan  of 
“serArice”  to  the  customer  committed  to  memory  by  every 
German  merchant  and  salesman,  all  the  minutiae  of  pack- 
ing, customs  house  regulations,  tariff,  routing,  lighterage, 
local  conditions,  and  likings  were  painstakingly  folloAved 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


125 


in  order  that  the  Latin  American  client  might  feel  his 
importance  and  rest  assured  of  the  endeavor  of  the  Ger- 
man businessman  to  satisfy  him  on  all  points. 

The  readiness  with  which  the  German  merchant  effaced 
himself  in  the  interests  of  his  trade  was  equaled  only  by 
the  genial  good-fellowship  and  sympathy  which  he  dis- 
played in  his  intercourse  with  people  of  Latin  extraction. 
Unable  to  inspire  cordiality  or  confidence  among  nations 
of  his  own  racial  stock,  and  incapable  of  comprehending 
the  ultimate  psychology  of  Englishmen  or  Americans, 
the  German  has  shown  a marvelous  aptitude  in  winning 
the  heart  of  Latin  Americans  and  in  understanding  their 
mental  and  spiritual  reactions. 

GERMANY  “COMING  BACK”  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

Through  these  habits  of  adaptability  and  “service,” 
Germany  is  finding  it  less  difficult  to  regain  her  commer- 
cial position  in  Latin  America  than  the  crisis  through 
which  she  has  passed  would  lead  us  to  expect. 

Already  the  suspicions  aroused  by  the  war  have  been 
allayed.  Chile  has  recently  granted  the  Krupps  the  right 
to  acquire  land  in  the  Province  of  Llanquihue  for  the 
purpose  of  building  an  immense  steel  and  munition  plant, 
and  German  workmen  are  now  pi’eparing  to  settle  in  the 
neighborhood.  Herr  Hugo  Stinnes  has  obtained  large 
tracts  of  land  in  the  Territory  of  Neuquen,  Argentina, 
and  is  exploiting  the  oil  deposits  in  that  region.  The 
Hamburg-Colombian  Bananen  Aktien-Gesellschaft  is 
developing  the  banana  industry  along  the  Gulf  of  Uraba 
on  the  general  lines  originated  by  the  United  Fruit  Com- 
pany. The  Solingen  district  of  Germany  has  actively 
resumed  its  exports  of  small  iron  and  steel  goods  to 
Argentina,  in  which  it  excelled  before  the  war,  and 
according  to  the  Director  of  the  German- Argentinian 
Central  Association  in  Berlin,  German  manufacturers  fore- 
see a strong  recuperation  in  their  sales  of  threshing 
machines,  motor  plows,  grinding  mills,  and  the  like. 
German  competition  in  paper,  steel,  and  hardware  has 
become  extremely  keen  in  the  southern  portion  of  South 


126 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


America,  aided  by  the  favorable  export  influence  of  3 
depreciated  German  currency. 

Hundreds  of  other  items  can  be  cited  to  demonstrate 
that  Germany  is  successfully  reaching  out  again,  that 
her  lost  steamships  are  being  replaced  with  marvelous 
speed,  and  that  the  commercial  fear  with  which  she 
inspired  other  nations  before  the  War  is  again  working 
overtime.  It  has  even  been  said  that  the  mark  is  kept 
down  merely  to  enable  German  firms  to  undersell  their 
British  and  American  rivals! 

While  adaptability,  “service,”  efficiency,  organization, 
and  expediency  have  been  the  outstanding  features  of 
Germany’s  policy  in  Latin  American  trade,  the  contrary 
seems  to  have  characterized  the  Latin  American  business 
of  the  United  States. 

WEAKNESS  OF  FORMER  AMERICAN  METHODS 

It  would  be  idle  to  rehearse  the  reproaches  heaped  by 
our  own  commercial  experts,  writers,  and  travelers  on 
American  merchants  and  manufacturers  for  their  slip- 
shod management  of  a market  which  already  consumes 
a fourth  of  our  total  exports.  A great  deal  of  the  criti- 
cism is  deserved,  though  too  much  of  it  is  uttered  with- 
out regard  for  such  establishments  as  W.  R.  Grace  and 
Company,  the  American  Steel  Products  Company,  the 
Singer  Sewdng  Machine  Company,  the  National  Cash 
Register  Company,  which  rank  among  the  most  compe- 
tent firms  trading  in  Latin  America. 

Whatever  mistakes  have  been  committed,  the  fact  re- 
mains that  the  United  States  has  already  passed  both 
Great  Britain  and  Germany  in  Latin  American  commerce. 

Until  a few  years  ago,  American  business  in  Latin 
America  appeared  planless  and  purely  individualistic. 
Our  trade,  like  Topsy,  “just  grew.”  That,  howrever,  was 
really  the  case  with  British  and  German  trade,  at  the 
start,  also.  During  the  next  ten  years,  the  tradition  is 
likely  to  spring  up  that  American  commerce  in  Latin 
America  wras  fostered  mainly  through  governmental  and 
individual  cooperation:  but  the  assertion  will  be  without 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


127 


foundation.  Our  Latin  American  business,  which  is  now 
“made,”  has  developed  by  trial  and  error  and  as  a result 
of  particular  conditions. 

How  the  United  States  has  risen  to  leadership  in  Latin 
American  commerce  is  not  at  all  easy  to  analyze.  The 
war  cannot  explain  our  privileged  position  at  the  present 
moment.  Great  Britain  and  Germany  have  been  making 
unheard-of  efforts  to  regain  their  old  status,  and  have 
been  favored  by  their  depreciated  currency,  by  the 
premium  on  American  money,  and  by  their  imperative 
need  of  the  largest  possible  outlet  for  their  products* 
yet  the  United  States  retains  the  gains  which  it  made 
during  the  war  and  is  consistently  adding  to  them.  From 
one  end  of  Latin  America  to  the  other,  America  to-day 
holds  the  supremacy  in  trade. 

AMERICAN  BUSINESSMEN  MAKING  A GALLANT  FIGHT 

The  theory  that  the  United  States  can  surpass  Great 
Britain  and  Germany  only  in  those  articles  in  which  it 
has  a natural  monopoly  or  in  which  it  manufactures  on 
a huge  production  basis  is  no  longer  tenable.  An  exami- 
nation of  the  imports  of  various  countries,  and  notably 
of  Brazil,  demonstrates  that  in  almost  every  line  of  manu- 
facture— including  arms  and  ammunition,  automobiles  and 
accessories,  chemical  products,  cotton  goods,  dry  goods, 
electrical  machinery  and  supplies,  iron  and  steel  manu- 
factures, agricultural  machinery,  office  supplies,  musical 
instruments,  paper,  rubber  manufactures,  jewelry,  scien- 
tific instruments — and  in  many  branches  of  foodstuffs 
and  wearing  apparel,  the  United  States  has  secured  the 
first  rank.  Unknown  to  the  general  public,  our  men  of 
industry  are  making  a gallant  fight  in  Latin  America. 
In  less  than  half  a dozen  years,  they  have  established 
most  of  the  trade  relations  in  which  Great  Britain,  Ger- 
many, France,  and  Spain  excelled,  and  are  lacking  in 
practically  only  one  important  auxiliary,  namely,  Amer- 
ican colonization  in  Latin  America. 

The  three  elements  of  modern  American  business  in 
Latin  America  which  are  distinctly  new  are:  (1)  adequate 


128  Paramount  Foreign  Interests 

American  shipping;  (2)  investments;  and  (3)  banking 
facilities.  “Team-work”  in  the  interests  of  trade  has  also 
been  developed  recently : but  it  has  existed  for  some  time 
in  the  admirable  endeavors  of  the  Pan  American  Union 
and  the  energy  of  its  former  Director,  Mr.  John  Barrett, 
and  of  its  present  Director,  Dr.  Leo  S.  Rowe,  in  the 
popularization  of  Latin  America  by  the  South  American, 
the  Pan  American  Magazine,  several  other  general  period- 
icals, and  some  technical  reviews,  in  consular  reports,  and 
in  the  daily  reports  of  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Domestic 
Commerce. 

Latterly,  the  visits  of  American  officials  and  travelers, 
the  exchange  of  teachers,  the  employment  of  American 
scientists,  and,  in  especial,  of  American  geologists,  the 
celebration  of  Pan  American  congresses,  the  publication  by 
banking  institutions  of  such  helpful  periodicals  as  The 
Americas  by  the  National  City  Bank,  the  more  liberal 
space  allowed  to  Latin  American  affairs  in  our  newspapers, 
and  the  creation  of  American  chambers  of  commerce  in 
Buenos  Aires,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Sao  Paulo,  Havana, 
Asuncion  (Paraguay),  La  Paz  (Bolivia),  have  formed  a 
network  of  intellectual  communication  which,  if  it  con- 
tinues to  expand,  should  actually  realize  the  cherished 
ambition  of  the  friends  of  both  continents  to  see  the  three 
Americas — North  America,  Central  America,  and  South 
America — brought  together  in  sincere  comity  and  co- 
operation. 

Some  day,  too,  Latin  American  civilization  and  progress 
will  undoubtedly  be  taught  in  our  public  schools  on  a par 
with  medieval  history,  and  probably  with  as  useful,  if 
not,  indeed,  more  useful  results. 

Whether  or  not  the  United  States  will  maintain  its  ocean 
transportation  at  the  height  to  which  it  has  risen  has  be- 
come a highly  debatable  question.  With  the  dismantling 
of  some  of  the  shipbuilding  plants  erected  during  the  war 
and  the  wholesale  criticism  leveled  at  the  Shipping  Board, 
the  impression  is  gaining  ground  that  we  are  growing 
lukewarm  over  our  merchant  marine.  Again  arguments 
are  presented  to  prove  that  it  does  not  matter  who  con- 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


129 


veys  our  goods,  so  long  as  the  transaction  is  economically 
profitable  to  our  merchants.  On  the  face  of  it,  this  argu- 
ment seems  valid : and  if  it  were  accepted  at  its  face  value, 
we  should  be  justified  in  allowing  our  ships  to  swing  idly 
at  their  mooring — at  a considerable  expense  to  the  tax- 
payers, of  course — or  in  selling  them  to  Germany  and 
Japan,  or  in  scrapping  them  altogether. 

DISADVANTAGES  OF  SHIPPING  IN  THE  VESSELS  OF  COMPETITORS 

But  there  is  another  side  to  the  problem,  touched  on  by 
the  Rev.  John  F.  O’Hara,  which  is  not  without  point: 

Non- American  agents,  through  a false  notion  of  loyalty  to  their 
mother  country,  have  devised  propaganda  against  American  ship- 
ping. They  will  tell  you  that  the  Shipping  Board  boats  are 
unseaworthy,  that  they  are  falling  to  pieces,  that  their  upkeep 
costs  more  than  their  income,  that  America  never  has  been  or 
never  will  be  a shipping  nation,  and  that  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment has  no  business  depriving  foreigners  of  an  honest  living 
by  competing  with  them  in  a business  that  is  theirs  by  right  of 
inheritance.  I say  that  they  will  tell  you  these  things  because 
they  have  told  them  to  me,  and  they  are  so  intent  upon  their 
own  purpose  of  driving  American  shipping  from  the  seas,  that 
they  are  careless  who  knows  of  their  propaganda  against  it. 
The  more  intensely  loyal  they  are  to  their  mother  country,  the 
more  they  feel  it  their  duty  to  discredit  American  shipping  and 
American  business  generally. 

The  same  thought  was  in  Mr.  Root’s  mind  when,  in  1906, 
he  stated:  “It  is  only  reasonable  to  expect  that  European 
steamship  lines  shall  be  so  managed  as  to  promote  European 
trade  in  South  America,  rather  than  to  promote  the  trade 
of  the  United  States  in  South  America.” 

America,  however,  does  not  surrender  readily  anything 
which  it  has  undertaken,  and  it  is  inconceivable  that,  at 
the  very  moment  when  we  have  discovered  that  our  pros- 
perity rests  on  our  foreign  commerce,  we  should  give  up 
our  most  important  trade  vehicle.  If  the  control  of  a 
large  percentage  of  the  world’s  shipping  means  much  to 
Great  Britain  and  Germany,  it  should  mean  at  least  as 
much  to  us.  The  subsidiary  benefits  derived  from  thriv- 
ing shipbuilding  plants,  the  utilization  of  all  the  materials 


130  Paramount  Foreign  Interests 

that  go  into  the  construction  of  ships,  the  maintenance  of 
naval  architecture  as  a profession,  and  the  employment  of 
thousands  of  workmen,  may  constitute  a significant  item 
in  our  industrial  life,  especially  in  view  of  the  recent 
action  taken  with  regard  to  naval  armaments. 

In  1913,  according  to  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce,  “not  a single  American 
vessel  arrived  at  Buenos  Aires.  In  1914  there  were  6;  in 
1915,  73;  in  1916,  140;  and  in  1917,  151.”  In  1919,  335 
American  vessels  carrying  822,609  tons  arrived  In  Argen- 
tina. By  the  end  of  1920,  the  total  shipping  in  our  Latin 
American  trade  amounted  to  about  39,000,000  tons,  an  in- 
crease of  52  per  cent  over  the  1914  figure,  and  of  54!/2 
per  cent  over  the  figures  for  1919.  Of  these,  31,000,000 
tons,  or  79  per  cent,  were  registered  under  the  American 
flag.  The  record  is  hardly  short  of  amazing. 

RAPID  PROGRESS  OF  AMERICAN  SHIPPING 

The  advance  made  in  American  shipbuilding  and  the 
rapidity  with  which  the  American  merchant  marine  is 
catching  up  with  the  British  are  evident  from  these 


figures : 

Tonnage 

1914  1920  (June  30) 

Great  Britain  19,799,119  20,582,652 

United  States  7,928,688  16,049,289 


That  some  relation  exists  between  the  increase  in  our 
Latin  American  commerce  from  about  $750,000,000  in  1914 
to  over  $3,000,000,000  in  1920  and  the  increase  in  our 
shipping  tonnage  from  7,928,688  in  1914  to  16,049,289  in 
1920  appears  probable. 

The  close  relation  between  investments  and  commerce  in 
foreign  countries  is  universally  admitted.  Investments  may 
be  of  various  kinds,  and  may  include  what  Miss  L.  E. 
Elliott  calls  ‘ ‘ investment  in  personality,  ’ ’ or  the  domiciling 
of  resident  employees,  administrative  officials,  and  colonists. 
In  this,  and  in  the  more  usual  forms  of  investment,  con- 
sisting in  the  acquisition  of  foreign  properties  and  in  the 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


131 


participation  in  state  and  municipal  loans  and  the  purchase 
of  various  species  of  foreign  securities,  the  activities  of 
American  businessmen  and  investors  have  lately  under- 
gone a noticeable  transformation.  The  charge  that  Amer- 
icans show  no  interest  in  the  development  of  Latin  America, 
though  never  strictly  true,  lacks  to-day  whatever  force  it 
once  had.  The  principal  factor  in  the  change  has  been 
the  entry  of  American  banking  houses  in  Latin  American 
finance. 


AMERICAN  BANKS  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

Less  than  ten  years  ago,  American  banks  in  Latin 
America  were  conspicuous  by  their  absence,  banks  in  the 
United  States  were  chary  of  Latin  American  negotiations, 
and  Latin  American  securities  were  not,  with  rare  excep- 
tions, listed  on  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange.  An  Amer- 
ican, who  was  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  the  concession  for 
building  the  subway  in  Buenos  Aires,  was  obliged  to  forego 
his  privilege  because  of  his  utter  inability  to  interest  Amer- 
ican capital. 

Finally,  [relates  Dr.  Aughinbaugh,]  a German  raised  the  money 
in  Hamburg,  and  now  everything  about  the  line  from  electrical 
installation  to  the  motorman  and  bis  uniform  is  “Made  in  Ger- 
many.” Being  the  first  and  only  underground  in  Latin  America 
it  was  written  about  and  talked  of  everywhere,  and  at  all  times 
the  Germans  got  credit  for  the  enterprise  and  were  well  adver- 
tised as  efficient  and  wonderful  engineers. 

An  American  investor,  who  asked  the  advice  of  a pro- 
fessor of  economics  about  placing  some  of  his  money  in 
bonds  of  the  municipality  of  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil — one  of  the 
richest  and  most  progressive  cities  of  the  Western  Hemis- 
phere— was  urgently  counseled  to  abstain  ‘because  of  the 
notorious  instability  of  South  American  governments!’ 
With  the  advent  of  American  banks  in  Latin  America,  such 
occurrences  are  bound  to  become  rare. 

There  are  now  in  the  neighborhood  of  100  branches  of 
American  banks  in  Latin  America.  Of  these,  42  controlled 
by  the  National  City  Bank  of  New  York  are  located  in  the 


132  Paramount  Foreign  Interests 

Caribbean  region  alone,  a territory  whose  commerce1 
approximates  $2,000,000,000  annually.  Other  branches 
have  been  established  in  Argentina,  Brazil,  Chile,  Peru, 
Uruguay.  The  Mercantile  Bank  of  the  Americas  has  35 
affiliated  branches  in  Central  and  South  America.  The 
First  National  Bank  of  Boston,  the  Anglo  and  London 
Paris  National  Bank  of  San  Francisco,  and  other  impor- 
tant American  financial  institutions  have  at  this  moment 
direct  banking  connections  with  Latin  America.  In  many 
instances,  these  banks  have  erected  their  own  palatial 
buildings  in  the  most  expensive  portions  of  the  business  dis- 
tricts of  Latin  American  cities,  the  first  National  Bank  of 
Boston  having  paid  about  two  million  pesos  for  the  lots 
alone,  at  the  corner  of  Florida  and  the  Avenida  Diagonal, 
Buenos  Aires,  on  which  to  put  up  its  Argentine  head- 
quarters. 

With  the  banks  have  come  investments : but  it  must  not 
be  supposed  that  American  capital  was  previously  entirely 
lacking.  In  the  northern  countries  of  Latin  America,  such 
as  Mexico,  Central  America,  Cuba,  Santo  Domingo,  Amer- 
ican money  has  predominated  for  some  time.  Of  the  total 
national  wealth  of  Mexico,  amounting  to  about  two  and  a 
half  billion  dollars  in  1912,  over  one  billion  dollars  came 
from  American  sources,  and  of  the  $700,000,000  of  mining 
properties,  $500,000,000  is  American.  The  United  Fruit 
Company  has  expended  $200,000,000  in  Central  America 
and  nearby  regions. 

Enormous  sums  of  American  money  are  tied  up  in 
Mexican,  Peruvian,  and  Colombian  oil,  in  the  copper  and 
tin  districts  of  Chile  and  Bolivia,  in  the  nitrate  oficinas 
of  the  Grace  Nitrate  Company  and  the  Du  Pont  Nitrate 
Company,  in  Chile,  in  the  asphalt  deposits  of  Cuba  and 
Venezuela,  and  in  the  sugar  ingenios  of  the  West  Indies. 
More  recently,  American  packers  have  bought  large  tracts 
of  land  and  constructed  model  packing  plants  in  Argen- 
tina, Uruguay,  Paraguay,  and  Brazil.  The  Armours,  the 
Morrises,  the  Swifts,  and  the  Wilsons,  anticipating  the  part 

1 Including  that  of  Porto  Rico,  the  Virgin  Islands,  and  the  British, 
Dutch,  and  French  West  Indies. 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests  133 

to  be  played  by  Latin  American  meats  in  feeding  the  world 
and  the  diminishing  role  of  cattle-raising  in  the  United 
States,  have  carried  their  activities  over  into  southern  South 
America,  the  Armours  have  built  a $10,000,000  packing 
plant  in  Brazil,  and  another  American  firm  has  established 
a large  plant  at  Cispata,  Colombia. 

A detailed  list  of  the  American  investment  in  private 
enterprises  in  Latin  America  would  astonish  the  general 
public  because  of  its  vastness  and  the  relative  suddenness 
with  which  it  has  seized  opportunities. 

The  most  immediate  result  of  the  establishment  of  Amer- 
ican banks  in  Latin  America  lies  in  the  awakening  of  con- 
fidence in  Latin  American  securities  on  the  part  of 
American  financial  institutions  and  individuals.  Few 
foreign  government  securities,  as  a matter  of  fact,  offer 
as  much  safety  and  profit  as  those  of  the  more  prominent 
Latin  American  republics,  and  only  lack  of  knowledge  has 
deterred  earlier  and  larger  investments.  The  European 
investor  has  not  had  qualms  on  this  score,  since  the  Latin 
American  investment  field  appears  no  more  hazardous  to 
him  than  any  other,  his  information  being  quite  accurate 
and  unbiased.  Under  the  stimulus  of  American  banks 
on  the  ground,  Americans  are  certain  to  drop  their  provin- 
cial timidity.  The  banks  have  already  done  so. 

The  International  Banking  Corporation  of  New  York 
was  not  long  ago  appointed  the  depository  of  the  funds 
of  the  Dominican  Republic  with  the  understanding  that  it 
should  maintain  up  to  40  branches  or  agencies  in  the  island. 
The  Department  of  Cauca,  Colombia,  negotiated  a loan  of 
1,000,000  pesos  gold  with  the  firm  of  Amsinck  of  New  York. 
The  Bolivian  Government  has  contracted  a loan  of  $10,- 
000,000  with  a New  York  investment  house.  The  State  of 
Santa  Catharina,  Brazil,  has  arranged  a loan  of  $5,000,000 
in  the  United  States  for  the  construction  of  railways  and 
for  public  utilities.  American  bankers  have  loaned  the 
Argentine  Government  $15,000,000  in  6 per  cent  gold  notes, 
and  the  securities  were  sold  out  before  four  o’clock  of  the 
day  on  which  they  were  put  on  the  market.  An  issue  of 
$7,500,000  for  the  Uruguayan  Government,  announced  by 


134  Paramount  Foreign  Interests 

the  National  City  Company,  has  been  practically  all  sold 
at  the  time  of  this  writing,  and  it  is  reported  that  the 
National  Administration  of  Posts  and  Telephones  of 
Uruguay  has  just  signed  a provisional  contract  with  a 
bankers’  syndicate,  led  by  the  Equitable  Trust  Company, 
for  a loan  of  $9,000,000  to  be  used  in  the  construction  of 
an  underground  telephone  system  and  to  be  expended  in 
the  United  States  for  materials.  An  effort  is  now  being 
made  to  interest  American  capital  in  governmental  and 
municipal  loans  and  in  private  enterprises  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  oil  shale,  sugar-beet,  flax,  timber,  and  wood- 
pulp  industries  in  Chile. 

American  financiers  and  investors,  then,  as  is  evident  from 
the  above  partial  data  taken  at  random,  are  now  becoming 
aware  of  the  solid,  legitimate  opportunities  in  the  south 
of  Latin  America  as  well  as  in  the  north,  and  have  already 
made  progress  toward  contributing  to  the  internal  develop- 
ment of  the  Latin  American  countries.  As  in  commerce 
and  in  shipping,  so  also  in  banking  and  investments,  a new 
situation  has  arisen.  The  hegemony  of  the  British  and 
German  banks  has  been  thrown  open  to  debate,  at  least, 
and  private  initiative  has  been  directed  toward  the 
advantages  of  pioneer  profits  in  lands  naturally  rich  and 
still  highly  undeveloped. 

Enough  testimony  has  been  presented  to  demonstrate 
that  the  commercial  and  industrial  progress  of  Latin 
America  has  depended  on  the  enterprise  of  the  great  non- 
Latin  nations,  Great  Britain,  Germany,  and  the  United 
States,  and  that  these  nations  have  been  markedly  success- 
ful in  dealing  with  peoples  of  different  stock,  religion,  social 
customs,  and  traditions.  The  methods  of  Great  Britain, 
Germany,  and  the  United  States,  while  dissimilar  in  the 
beginning,  have  come  to  resemble  one  another  in  essentials, 
and  may  now  be  summed  up  as  consisting  of  “service” 
to  the  Latin  American  countries  and  of  cooperation  be- 
tween the  individuals  and  organizations  of  each  of  the 
foreign  nations  and  the  Latin  American  countries. 

The  next  step  in  the  evolution  of  preponderating  foreign 
influences  in  Latin  America  is  likely  to  be  even  more 


Paramount  Foreign  Interests 


135 


curious  than  the  steps  already  taken.  Japan,  another  non- 
Latin  nation,  has  definitely  adopted  the  western  commer- 
cial system,  has  a considerable  standing  on  the  West  Coast 
of  South  America,  is  opening  banks,  investing  capital,  and 
increasing  its  shipping  in  Latin  America,  and  in  some  of 
the  republics  has  already  surged  ahead  of  Germany,  France, 
and  Italy. 


CHAPTER  VI 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE 

In  many  respects  the  political  relations  of  the  Latin 
American  republics  with  one  another  and  with  foreign 
countries  are  unique,  or  nearly  so.  Latin  America  has  yet 
to  pass  through  the  evolutionary  stages  out  of  which 
modern  political  organization  has  developed.  With  a 
twentieth  century  mind  and  in  twentieth  century  surround- 
ings, it  must  trace  a course  through  seventeenth  or  early 
eighteenth  century  obstacles  while  a highly  sophisticated 
modern  world  looks  on  and  interjects  its  various  and  often 
conflicting  influences.  Its  national  policies,  tariffs, 
armaments,  and  even,  to  some  extent,  its  boundaries  are 
in  a state  of  flux.  Its  unenviable  position  is  that  of  a 
section  of  the  globe  which  has  not  “caught  up”  and  never- 
theless feels  an  imperative  need  of  “catching  up”  without 
delay. 

Moreover,  its  political  evolution  is  not  free.  The  main- 
tenance of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  by  the  United  States  for 
about  one  hundred  years  has  deprived  it  of  liberty  of 
action.  No  matter  what  the  merits  of  that  Doctrine  may 
be,  nor  how  useful  it  may  have  been  to  Latin  America  in 
the  past,  nor  how  necessary  an  instrument  to  our  own 
safety,  the  fact  remains  that  it  has  made  Latin  American 
political  relations  one-sided. 

THE  NORTH  AMERICAN  PERIL 

Spain  closed  the  markets  of  Latin  America  for  several 
centuries  to  foreign  traders  and  created  a pressure  from 
within  which  opened  gaps  in  the  monopolistic  wall  and 
finally  in  the  eighteenth  century  broke  down  the  wall  it- 
self. Clandestine  trading  or  smuggling  both  by  the 
colonists  and  by  European  merchantmen  and  privateers 

136 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


137 


nullified  the  dog-in-the  manger  policy  of  Spain,  which,  of 
course,  was  after  all  nothing  but  the  general  commercial 
policy  of  all  European  governments  at  the  time.  Our 
jealous  watchfulness  over  Latin  America  in  a political 
way  appears  to  be  leading  to  like  results.  Accepted  at 
first  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  was  enunciated,  as  a protec- 
tion to  Latin  America  against  European  aggression,  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  has  become  to-day  in  the  Spanish- 
American  republics  a cordially  disliked  political  pronounce- 
ment. Brazil  alone  views  it  with  equanimity  and  friend- 
liness. To  the  rest  of  Latin  America  it  is  synonymous  with 
“the  North  American  peril”  and  is  taken  much  more 
seriously  than  the  overrated  German  or  Japanese  “peril.” 

So  long  as  our  statesmen  were  able  to  reassure  Latin 
America  as  to  the  essential  benevolence  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  it  was  possible  for  the  United  States  to  allay  the 
suspicions  of  overheated  imaginations  and  to  emphasize 
the  real  advantages  which  have  accrued  to  Latin  America 
through  our  firmness  in  upholding  the  principles  of  the 
Declaration  of  1823.  It  has  even  been  possible  for  them 
to  interpret  charitably  and  in  the  spirit  of  international 
comity  the  positive  statements  of  Secretary  Olney,  during 
Cleveland’s  administration,  and  of  President  Roosevelt. 

But  the  growing  number  of  American  publicists  who, 
like  Professor  Hiram  Bingham  in  The  Monroe  Doctrine 
an  Obsolete  Shibboleth,  strongly  doubt  the  present  appli- 
cability of  President  Monroe’s  enunciation,  and  the  appear- 
ance of  books,  chapters  of  books,  or  articles  partaking  of 
the  ideas  presented  by  Professor  Archibald  C.  Coolidge, 
the  director  of  the  Harvard  University  Library,  in  The 
United  States  as  a World  Power,  have  confirmed  Latin 
American  leaders  in  their  belief  in  the  malevolent  tenden- 
cies of  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

Neglecting  the  plain  fact  that  the  skepticism  about  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  in  the  United  States  is  as  legitimate  and 
representative  a public  opinion  as  its  opposite,  and  per- 
haps a more  sincere  one  because  held  only  by  thoughtful 
persons  without  political  or  financial  interests,  Latin  Amer- 


138 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


ican  writers  are  prone  to  seize  on  self-evident  statements 
like  the  following,  uttered  in  the  tone  of  dispassionate 
historical  inquiry,  and  to  draw  the  sort  of  conclusions  pre- 
valent during  the  European  War  in  discussions  of  von 
Treitschke ’s  and  Bernhardi ’s  imperialistic  works : 

When  two  contiguous  States  [quotes  Senor  F.  Garcia  Cal- 
deron from  The  United  States  as  a World  Power , by  Professor 
Coolidge]  are  separated  by  a long  line  of  frontiers  and  one  of 
the  two  rapidly  increases,  full  of  youth  and  vigour,  while  the 
other  possesses,  together  with  a small  population,  rich  and  de- 
sirable territories,  and  is  troubled  by  continual  revolutions  which 
exhaust  and  weaken  it,  the  first  will  inevitably  encroach  upon  the 
second,  just  as  water  will  always  seek  to  regain  its  own  level. 

LATIN  AMERICAN  NOTION  OF  THE  TRANSFORMATION  OF  THE 
MONROE  DOCTRINE 

Naturally,  a patriotic  Latin  American,  reading  these 
lines,  is  filled  with  fear  and  foreboding,  and  treats  Senor 
Calderon’s  deduction  that  “The  Monroe  Doctrine  has 
undergone  an  essential  transformation ; it  has  passed 
successively  from  the  defensive  to  intervention  and  thence 
to  the  offensive”  as  an  irrefragable  logical  sequence.  The 
intention  of  President  Wilson  to  expand  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine to  a Pan  American  Doctrine  in  which  Latin  America 
should  have  equal  privileges  and  an  equal  responsibility 
with  the  United  States  is  regarded  as  the  well-meaning 
but  futile  attempt  of  a large-minded  American  statesman 
to  counteract,  like  King  Canute,  an  irresistible  current. 
The  action  of  the  United  States  in  the  recent  Panama- 
Costa  Rica  controversy  and  President  Harding’s  reaffirma- 
tion of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  are  taken  as  far  more  typical 
of  our  true  attitude  toward  Latin  America. 

To  either  a disinterested  or  an  interested  foreign  observer 
the  imperialistic  indictment  brought  against  the  United 
States  may,  indeed,  seem  formidable.  The  charges  of  inter- 
vention, seizure,  and  military  and  economic  pressure 
made  by  Senor  Blanco-Fombona  in  his  introduction  to 
Sarmiento’s  Facundo  can  be  augmented  materially. 

Several  presidents  of  the  United  States  have  advocated 
the  annexation  of  Cuba  and  Santo  Domingo;  Porto  Rico 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


139 


is  now  our  “possession”;  we  have  acquired  the  Virgin 
Islands  in  the  Caribbean  for  which  we  bid  a score  of  years 
ago ; we  have  fortified  the  Panama  Canal ; we  as  genuinely 
control  Mexico  and  Central  America  from  a political  stand- 
point as  if  we  exercised  a de  facto  protectorate  over  those 
countries;  as  a result  of  the  affair  of  the  I tat  a,  followed 
by  an  attack  on  sailors  of  the  American  cruiser  Baltimore 
at  Valparaiso,  an  ultimatum  was  sent  to  Chile  from  Wash- 
ington ; because  of  American  intervention  Argentina  feels 
that  it  lost  the  Falkland  Islands  to  Great  Britain;  our 
watchfulness  over  Latin  America  appears  to  have  increased 
rather  than  to  have  diminished  during  the  first  year  of 
President  Harding’s  administration,  and  the  dispatching 
of  General  Crowder  to  Cuba,  Secretary  Hughes’  note  in 
the  Panama-Costa  Rica  broil,  our  firm  resolve  not  to 
recognize  General  Obregon’s  government  in  Mexico  until 
guarantees  are  given,  and  our  expressions  of  disapproval 
concerning  the  proposed  revival  of  Brazilian  valorization 
of  coffee  seem  to  Latin  Americans  to  hark  back  to  the  era 
of  the  “big  stick”;  and  the  rapid  and  extraordinary  de- 
velopment of  American  trusts  in  Latin  America — the  meat 
trust,  the  copper  and  tin  trust,  the  petroleum  trust,  the 
bank  trust — is  convincing  proof  to  many  Latin  Americans 
that  what  we  do  not  take  by  forcible  annexation  we  are 
sure  to  absorb  by  peaceful  penetration. 

The  Yankee  “peril,”  then,  looms  up  again  on  the  Latin 
American  horizon,  and  Professor  Coolidge’s  thought,  in- 
sisted on  rather  noticeably  throughout  the  volume  above 
mentioned,  which  was  based  on  his  lectures  at  the  Sor- 
bonne  in  1906-7  and  printed  in  1908,  once  more  represents 
the  Latin  American  conception  of  the  real  attitude  of  the 
United  States  and  the  philosophy,  often  blandly  masked, 
behind  it : 

History  shows  that  the  close  association  of  weak  states  and 
strong  ones  may  be  dangerous,  sooner  or  later,  to  the  independ- 
ence of  the  former.  At  the  present  moment,  the  United  States, 
as  regards  strength,  is  in  somewhat  the  same  position  as  was 
Prussia  toward  the  other  members  of  the  German  Zollverein,  that 
is  to  say,  it  has  a larger  population,  greater  actual  wealth,  more 
available  resources, — in  a word,  is  stronger  in  almost  every  re- 


140 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


spect,  not  only  than  any  one  of  the  Latin  American  republics, 
but  than  all  of  them  put  together.  Such  a disproportion  is  for- 
midable to  the  weaker  states,  and  though  with  the  growth  of 
Argentina  and  Brazil  it  will  diminish  before  long,  the  day  when 
any  likely  combination  of  the  Latin  republics  will  be  the  equal 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  one  is  still  far  ahead.  We  must  admit,  too, 
that  the  history  of  the  growth  of  the  United  States  is  not  entirely 
reassuring  to  the  Latin  Americans ; in  particular  the  story  of  the 
Mexican  War  will  always  frighten  them. 

The  latest  evidence  of  our  jealous  adherence  to  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  was  given  when  the  United  States  refused 
to  permit  the  League  of  Nations  to  arbitrate  in  the  Panama- 
Costa  Rica  boundary  dispute,  though  both  the  contestants 
were  willing  to  submit  their  contentions  to  that  body  and 
a previous  settlement  of  tfie  difficulty  had  been  made  in 
1900  outside  of  the  United  States,  by  President  Loubet  of 
France. 

CONTRADICTORY  APPLICATIONS  OF  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE 

Because  of  its  practical  inconsistencies,  the  Monroe 
Doctrine,  or  rather,  its  application  at  different  periods  in 
our  history,  has  come  to  be  a Protean  international 
principle.  By  virtue  of  our  ability  and  desire  to  enforce 
it,  we  refuse  to  allow  Panama  and  Costa  Rica  to  have 
recourse  to  the  arbitral  services  of  the  League  of  Nations: 
yet,  in  spite  of  our  declared  opposition,  we  have  not  in 
the  past  objected  to  the  selection  of  the  Czar  of  Russia  as 
the  arbitrator  in  the  boundary  differences  of  Brazil  and 
French  Guiana.  We  cannot  even  consider  the  existence 
or  extension  of  European  dependencies  on  the  Western 
Hemisphere  beyond  those  held  before  the  enunciation  of 
the  Monroe  Doctrine,  nor  the  transfer  of  any  portion  of 
Latin  America  from  one  European  power  to  another,  as 
Henry  Clay  made  clear  in  1825  in  declaring  that  the  United 
States  would  not  permit  Spain  to  transfer  Cuba  and  Porto 
Rico  to  any  other  European  governments:  yet,  in  1878 
Sweden  made  over  to  France  the  island  of  St.  Barthelemy 
without  protest  from  the  United  States.  We  admit,  nay 
rather,  insist  on  the  rights  of  nations  and  particularly  on 
the  right  of  self-determination,  yet  constantly  interfere  with 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


141 


the  national  aspirations  of  the  Latin  American  nations 
near  us  and  far  from  us.  We  stand  for  the  open  door  in 
China  in  a commercial  sense,  yet  shut  the  door  tight  on 
Latin  America  in  a political  sense,  denying  the  privilege 
of  foreign  alliances  to  the  Latin  American  republics.  We 
foster  Pan  Americanism  by  special  bureaus,  conferences, 
and  the  interchange  of  teachers  and  students,  yet  oppose 
anything  like  bona  fide  Pan  Americanism  by  arousing  dis- 
trust through  concrete  acts.  We  yearn  for  the  trade  of 
Argentina,  yet  contemplate  placing  heavy  duties  on  Argen- 
tine wheat  and  beef  and  feel  that  Argentina  is  not  playing 
the  game  properly  when  she  threatens  to  retaliate  by  im- 
posing heavy  duty  restrictions  on  our  exports  to  her 
markets. 

Fundamentally,  of  course,  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  an 
expression  of  political  opportunism  in  its  barest  terms. 
It  is  not  a part  of  international  law,  though  it  commands 
the  respect  of  nations.  It  was  conceived  in  a broad  spirit 
and  has  often  been  applied  in  a narrow  spirit.  It  is  sus- 
ceptible of  infinite  manipulation,  and  may  be  advanced 
at  one  time  as  a measure  of  protection  to  struggling 
nations  and  at  another  time  as  a measure  of  self-protec- 
tion. It  has  forced  upon  us  the  duties  of  guardian  and 
policeman,  though  in  all  probability  those  duties  would 
have  thrust  themselves  upon  us,  Monroe  Doctrine  or  no. 
It  has  been  extended  far  beyond  its  natural  limits  and 
far  beyond  its  natural  time.  To  revoke  it  is  almost  an 
impossibility  and  would  very  likely  prove  useless,  for 
it  is  not  President  Monroe’s  declaration  which  to-day 
constitutes  the  real  Monroe  Doctrine,  but  the  posture 
of  events  and  the  conditions  of  a modem  world. 
The  political  supervision  which  we  exercise  in  our  part 
of  the  world  differs  neither  in  kind  nor  in  degree  from 
the  supervision  of  Oriental  affairs  by  Great  Britain, 
Japan,  and  the  United  States.  Without  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine, our  attitude  toward  Mexico,  Central  America,  Cuba, 
and  the  other  Caribbean  countries  would  be  exactly  what 
it  is  at  the  present  time.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  is,  in  fact, 
nothing  more  to-day  than  an  antiquated  term  for  a more 


142 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


modern  situation  than  its  creator  had  in  mind.  From  the 
linguistic  point  of  view,  it  is  an  obsolete  expression,  like 
“horseless  carriage,”  or  “erstwhile,”  or  “ preterlapsed, ” 
or  “nephalism.” 

All  discussion,  then,  as  to  the  right  or  wrong  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  is  aimless.  The  only  valid  question  is 
whether  or  not  the  United  States  is  assuming  too  much 
in  its  contemporary  Latin  American  policy  or  policies: 
“policies,”  perhaps,  rather  than  “policy,”  because  our 
actions  do  not  flow  from  a single,  immutable  standard — 
a fact  which  sometimes  bewilders  foreigners,  but  is 
unavoidable  in  such  a complex,  vital,  and  ever-changing 
field  as  political  and  social  relations.  For  the  sake  of 
simplicity,  however,  the  term  “Latin  American  policy” 
may  here  be  substituted  for  “Monroe  Doctrine”  in  order 
to  obviate  the  prejudiced  connotation  which  surrounds 
the  latter  phrase. 

JUSTIFIABLE  POLICY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  TOWARD  THE 
CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES 

Our  Latin  American  policy  with  respect  to  the  Carib- 
bean countries  can  be  defended  from  both  the  political 
and  the  economic  standpoints.  A turbulent  Mexico,  Cuba, 
Central  America,  Venezuela,  or  Colombia  touches  our  in- 
terests too  closely  to  be  viewed  with  passive  scientific 
curiosity.  Marauding  and  filibustering  committed  at  our 
doors  may  have  the  same  effect  as  if  committed  within 
our  doors;  for  a perfectly  self-contained  nuisance  is  as 
rare  in  private  or  public  life  as  an  absolute  void.  Through 
long  dealings  we  have  built  up  a mutually  beneficial  com- 
merce which  is  far  more  important  to  the  Caribbean 
countries  than  their  commerce  with  any  other  nation,  and 
is  of  much  more  value  to  us  than  the  general  public 
imagines.  The  Panama  Canal  route  gives  us  the  same 
interests  along  the  Caribbean  that  Great  Britain  has  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Suez  Canal.  Internal  disturbances  in 
the  Caribbean  republics  are  infallibly  translated  into  ex- 
ternal disturbances,  and  therefore  affect  us  intimately 
and  immediately.  American  capital  is  dominant  within 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


143 


the  Caribbean  area  and,  as  the  most  significant  factor  in 
stimulating  material  progress,  wields  a decisive  economic 
and  political  influence.  In  1911,  for  example,  Nicaragua 
found  itself  in  sad  straits  because  American  bankers  with- 
drew their  help  in  the  way  of  loans  as  a result  of  the 
rejection  by  the  United  States  Senate  of  the  treaties 
negotiated  by  Senator  Knox;  and  the  unsettled  political 
conditions  led  to  intervention  by  force  of  arms  to  pro- 
tect American  property  and  lives. 

Thus  far,  at  any  rate,  our  Latin  American  policy  in 
the  Caribbean  countries,  though  never  entirely  satisfac- 
tory to  those  republics  or  to  ourselves,  has  been  more 
than  ordinarily  forbearing  and  just.  It  is  useless  to 
deny  that  financial  and  commercial  considerations,  as  well 
as  the  feeling  of  preponderance,  have  in  the  majority  of 
cases  determined  particular  action  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States.  Those  are  the  motives  which  mold 
politics  everywhere,  and  are  not  peculiar  to  the  relations 
of  the  United  States  with  Latin  America.  But  the  United 
States  has  not  deprived  any  Latin  American  country  of 
its  independence,  its  self-government,  its  language,  its 
religion,  or  its  opportunities  for  self-development.  It  has 
not  established  preferential  tariffs  along  the  Caribbean 
nor  secured  any  trade  monopoly.  Whatever  success 
American  business-men  have  obtained  has  been  won  in 
a fair  field  against  their  competitors,  their  only  advan- 
tages being  proximity  and  the  ability  to  play  upon  local 
sentiment  in  Mexico,  Cuba,  Costa  Rica,  Colombia  and 
upon  the  favors  of  the  home  administration  through  such 
power  as  their  wealth  or  their  personal  position  bestows 
upon  them — advantages  coveted  by  their  competitors  and 
used  by  them  to  the  full,  if  they  have  them,  whenever 
and  wherever  possible.  In  general,  too,  material  and 
social  advancement  has  attended  the  establishment  of 
American  business  men  have  obtained  has  been  won  in 
improvement  in  business  methods,  transportation,  sanita- 
tion, and  education.  The  legend  of  the  American  business 
ogre  in  Latin  America  is  a pure  figment  invented  by  local 
and  foreign  competitors  and  politicians. 


144 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


The  tradition  of  American  greed  for  Caribbean  terri- 
tory and  of  the  systematic  pursuit  of  a policy  of  absorp- 
tion, though  apparently  less  imaginary  than  other  super- 
stitions infecting  the  minds  of  Latin  Americans,  loses 
much  of  its  air  of  solidity  and  implacability  if  confronted 
with  the  facts. 

There  has  been  no  “master  mind”  behind  our  Carib- 
bean policy.  Republican  and  democratic  presidents,  par- 
ties, and  Secretaries  of  State  have  differed  in  their 
attitude  toward  Latin  America  and  have  expressed  their 
varying  opinions  both  verbally  and  in  deeds. 

Under  one  administration,  American  citizenship  was 
withheld  from  Porto  Rico ; under  another,  it  was  granted  : 
one  administration  refused  to  compensate  Colombia  for 
the  loss  of  Panama ; another  ordered  the  payment  of  the 
$25,000,000  involved : under  one  and  the  same  administra- 
tion, one  de  facto  government  of  Mexico,  that  of  Huerta, 
was  refused  recognition  and  was  flatly  informed  that  it 
would  never  be  recognized,  and  another  government,  that 
of  Carranza,  was  recognized  a few  months  after  Carranza 
had  taken  the  reins  into  his  own  hands,  though  his 
efforts  at  protecting  the  lives  and  property  of  Americans 
seemed  only  lukewarm : under  President  Roosevelt  and 
President  Taft,  the  revolutionists  of  Cuba  and  Nicaragua 
came  into  power  partly  as  the  result  of  the  attitude  of 
our  executives ; under  President  Wilson,  the  revolutionary 
factions  which  had  overturned  the  existing  governments 
in  Cuba  and  Costa  Rica  in  1917  were  given  scant  courtesy. 

The  purpose  may  have  been  the  same  in  all  these  cases, 
namely,  the  maintenance  of  peace  and  the  protection  of 
American  interests,  but  the  methods  were  different,  the 
results  were  different,  and  none  of  the  Latin  American 
republics  was  placed  in  jeopardy  of  its  independent 
existence. 

president  roosevelt’s  interpretation  of  the  monroe 

DOCTRINE 

Seventeen  years  have  passed  since  President  Roosevelt, 
in  his  annual  message  of  1904,  when  about  to  arrange 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


145 


for  the  taking  over  of  the  custom-houses  of  the  Dominican 
Republic,  expressed  his  interpretation  of  the  policy  of 
the  United  States  in  unmistakable  language : 

Any  country  whose  people  conduct  themselves  well  can  count 
upon  our  hearty  friendship.  If  a nation  shows  that  it  knows 
how  to  act  with  reasonable  efficiency  and  decency  in  social  and 
political  matters,  if  it  keeps  order  and  pays  its  obligations,  it 
need  fear  no  interference  from  the  United  States.  Chronic  wrong- 
doing, or  an  impotence  which  results  in  a general  loosening  of 
the  ties  of  civilized  society,  may  in  America,  as  elsewhere,  ulti- 
mately require  intervention  by  some  civilized  nation,  and  in  the 
Western  Hemisphere,  the  adherence  of  the  United  States  to  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  may  force  the  United  States,  however  reluctantly, 
in  flagrant  cases  of  such  wrongdoing  or  impotence,  to  the  exer- 
cise of  an  international  police  power. 

Clearly,  the  two  propositions  contained  in  this  declara- 
tion are  part  and  parcel  of  our  Latin  American  policy, 
but  only  the  second,  relating  to  the  possibility  of  foreign 
intervention,  can  be  said  to  have  any  connection  with  the 
Monroe  Doctrine. 

The  first  concerns  itself  in  truth  only  with  the  neigh- 
borly character  of  the  Latin  American  republics  and  with 
the  desire  of  the  United  States  to  be  free  from  the 
annoyances  which  unruly  neighbors  may  cause.  The 
transition  from  the  express  tenets  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
to  that  broader  line  of  conduct  which  we  may  term  the 
Latin  American  policy  of  the  United  States  had,  of  course, 
been  in  operation  and  thoroughly  understood  long  before, 
but  President  Roosevelt  by  his  words  made  it  evident 
that  the  transition  period  had  terminated  and  that  the 
Latin  American  policy  had  supplanted  definitively  the 
purely  European  phase  outlined  in  President  Monroe’s 
message. 

In  the  interval  which  has  elapsed  since  President 
Roosevelt’s  administration,  his  amendment  to  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  to  the  effect  that  the  United  States  must  “exer- 
cise an  international  police  power”  over  nations  which 
do  not  show  reasonable  efficiency  and  decency  in  social 
and  political  matters  has  been  the  norm  of  succeeding 
administrations,  even  to  the  inclusion  of  the  sentiment 


146 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


that  “Any  country  whose  people  conduct  themselves  well 
can  count  upon  our  hearty  friendship.” 

It  is  the  Roosevelt  amendment  which  arouses  the  fear 
and  the  hostility  of  the  Latin  American  countries,  and 
not  now  the  Monroe  Doctrine  as  such.  The  extent  to 
which  action  under  the  revised  Latin  American  policy 
may,  in  the  minds  of  Latin  American  political  thinkers, 
be  carried,  is  indicated  by  Dr.  Raul  de  Cardenas,  who 
though  a Cuban,  nevertheless  appears  to  regard  the  Platt 
amendment  as  a guarantee  of  the  independence  of  Cuba : 

What  reason  exists,  it  will  be  asked,  for  the  interventionist 
policy  of  the  United  States  to  extend  to  the  republics  of  Cuba, 
Haiti,  Santo  Domingo,  Panama  and  Nicaragua  alone,  and  not 
to  all  those  of  Central  America?  The  reason  is  obvious:  the  cases 
in  which  the  United  States  has  exercised  a protectorate  and  su- 
pervision have  not  arisen  systematically.  They  have  been  estab- 
lished as  the  interests  of  that  nation  have  called  for  them.  In 
the  case  of  the  islands  of  Cuba  and  Santo  Domingo,  the  North 
American  government  was  affected  by  their  position,  inasmuch  as 
they  are  situated  off  the  southern  coast  of  the  United  States,  and 
by  their  dominating,  besides,  the  routes  that  lead  to  the  canal; 
and,  in  respect  of  Panama  and  Nicaragua,  the  need  to  command 
and  control  interoceanic  communication  was  what  led  to  the 
assumption  of  supervision  over  these  countries.  The  day  in 
which  any  interest,  be  it  what  it  may,  shall  counsel  the  United 
States  to  subject  to  her  control  the  other  Central  American  re- 
publics, there  is  no  doubt  that  she  will  take  steps  to  that  end. 

To  this  idea  the  Caribbean  republics  will  undoubtedly 
accommodate  themselves  in  the  course  of  time,  however 
trying  to  truly  patriotic  souls  the  position  may  be.  It 
is  one  of  those  unfortunate  impasses  in  which  small 
nations  often  find  themselves  everywhere  in  the  world 
and  at  every  period  of  the  world’s  history.  But  there 
is  nothing  to  suggest  that  it  means  a loss  of  independence 
or  of  local  autonomy.  The  United  States  has  demon- 
strated by  her  repeated  withdrawals  from  Cuba,  her  with- 
drawal from  Santo  Domingo,  her  abstention  from  aggres- 
sion in  Mexico,  her  reparations  to  Colombia,  her  attitude 
of  non-interference  with  the  Central  American  Union, 
and  her  entire  neglect  of  opportunities  for  offensive  action 
in  the  Caribbean  region  during  the  European  War  and 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


147 


immediately  after  it,  when  her  army  and  navy  were 
mobilized  and  Europe  was  too  much  occupied  with  its 
own  troubles  to  offer  effective  objection,  that  she  has 
not  been  seeking  territorial  nor  even  commercial  advan- 
tages, but  only  that  political  oversight  which  all  great 
industrial  nations  deem  it  necessary  to  wield  in  the  inter- 
ests of  their  expanding  commerce  and  investments  and 
of  international  trade  in  general. 

THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  AND  THE  TRANS-CARIBBEAN 
COUNTRIES 

To  the  republics  south  of  the  Caribbean  territory  the 
supervisory  Latin  American  policy  of  the  United  States 
cannot  apply  in  any  real  fashion,  and  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine applies  only  in  so  far  as  we  cannot  view,  according 
to  President  Monroe’s  words,  “any  interposition  for  the 
purpose  of  oppressing  them,  or  controlling  in  any  other 
manner  their  destiny,  by  any  European  power  in  any 
other  light  than  as  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly 
disposition  toward  the  United  States.” 

The  “future  colonization  by  any  European  powers,” 
mentioned  in  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  is  not  to  be  feared 
in  the  sense  in  which  it  was  feared  in  1823.  Colonization 
now  is  synonymous  with  immigration.  Governments  do 
not  to-day  send  colonizing  expeditions  to  foreign  lands, 
with  the  intention  of  placing  such  colonies  under  home 
rule.  Individuals  and  groups  of  individuals  settle  in 
foreign  countries  and  at  once  render  themselves  amenable 
to  the  laws,  customs,  and  usages  of  those  countries. 

As  in  the  United  States,  Germans,  Italians,  Spaniards 
become  denationalized  shortly  after  their  arrival  in  Latin 
America,  learn  the  language  of  their  adopted  country, 
and  if  they  do  not,  see  to  it  that  their  children  do,  and 
are  soon  almost  indistinguishable  from  the  mass  of  the 
population.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  Spaniards 
and  Italians;  and  to  think  of  the  millions  of  Spaniards 
or  Italians  in  Brazil,  Argentina,  Uruguay,  Chile  as  in 
any  way  colonies  or  dependencies  of  Spain  or  Italy  is 
about  as  close  to  the  actual  fact  as  would  be  that  view 


148 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


of  our  American  Italians  or  Spaniards  who  have  come 
to  stay. 

The  German  colonies  of  Latin  America,  which  number 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  persons,  appear  exceptional 
in  this  respect  for  they  have  in  many  instances  kept 
their  own  language  and  customs  and  seem  to  resist  assimi- 
lation. Because  of  this  condition  the  German  govern- 
ment relied  on  very  substantial  assistance  from  Brazilian 
Germans  in  particular,  and  may  even  have  had  dreams 
of  annexing  the  former  vast  empire  of  the  Portuguese,  or 
at  least,  of  dominating  it  politically.  The  event  proved 
how  vain  it  is  for  European  governments  to  reckon  on 
more  than  a sentimental  relationship  with  their  transat- 
lantic offshoots  en  masse,  even  though  they  may  secure 
some  help  and  depend  on  individuals  for  propaganda. 

Brazil,  the  great  hope  in  Latin  America  of  the  Pan 
Germanists,  was  one  of  the  two  Latin  American  republics 
which  took  an  active  part  in  the  war,  and  that,  like  Cuba, 
against  Germany.  It  seized  the  forty-two  German  vessels 
interned  in  Brazilian  waters,  declared  war  against  Ger- 
many by  the  unanimous  vote  of  its  Senate  and  by  a vote 
of  149  to  1 in  its  Chamber  of  Deputies — in  both  of  which 
bodies  there  were  delegates  of  German  extraction — sent 
two  cruisers  and  four  destroyers  to  cooperate  with  the 
British  navy,  and  was  represented  at  the  front  by  aviators, 
physicians,  and  Red  Cross  units. 

Here,  as  throughout  Latin  America  and  in  the  United 
States,  whenever  a critical  division  occurs  between  national 
feeling  and  the  feeling  of  foreign  elements  bound  by  tradi- 
tional ties  to  the  Fatherland,  there  are  no  two  choices. 

Never,  in  fact,  in  the  history  of  Latin  America  has  any 
republic  consented  to  foreign  rule  or  to  foreign  rulers. 
The  eviction  of  the  English  from  Buenos  Aires  and  the 
execution  of  Maximilian  of  Hapsburg  in  Mexico  eloquently 
attest  the  vitality  of  the  national  spirit.  Nor  has  any 
foreign  government  ever  yet  been  able  to  establish  in  the 
Latin  American  republics  a number  of  settlers  sufficient 
to  submerge  the  national  population.  The  two  million  or 
more  Italians  of  Argentina  have  easily  been  swallowed 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


149 


up  by  the  existing  population  in  whatever  locality  they 
have  settled,  partly  because  they  entered  the  country  dur- 
ing a long  course  of  years,  and  not  all  at  once,  and  partly 
because  they  soon  became  Argentinians  themselves.  Pro- 
fessor Coolidge’s  prediction  with  regard  to  the  Germans 
of  Brazil,  made  in  1908,  has  been  borne  out  to  the  letter, 
in  spite  of  the  conditions  precipitated  by  the  European 
War: 

If  matters  go  on  quietly,  as  they  are  doing  at  present,  it  ap- 
pears probable  that,  in  spite  of  the  influence  of  consuls  and 
merchants,  of  teachers  and  preachers  and  patriotic  literature 
from  the  Fatherland,  sooner  or  later  here  too  the  Germans  will 
end  by  being  lost  in  the  surrounding  population. 

If  Latin  America  is  unalterably  opposed  to  foreign  rule, 
whether  it  be  European  or  North  American,  and  if  the 
possibility  of  foreign  colonization  in  the  old  meaning  is 
practically  nil,  why  the  unending  discussion  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  with  regard  to  Latin  America  as  a whole,  and 
why  the  treatment  of  it  as  an  imminent  danger  and  a 
loathsome  fetter  by  Argentinians,  Chileans,  Bolivians, 
Peruvians  ? 

In  order  to  comprehend  the  real  attitude  of  the  non- 
Caribbean  South  American  republics  toward  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  or  toward  what  has  been  denominated  in  this 
chapter  the  Latin  American  policy  of  the  United  States, 
it  is  necessary  to  distinguish  between  public  feeling  and 
the  feeling  of  trained  thinkers  or  political  experts. 

Public  feeling,  as  represented  by  the  “man  on  the 
street,”  the  press,  demagogues,  and  mobs  is  likely,  as  in 
all  countries,  to  be  highly  sensitive,  ultra  nationalistic, 
and  unconcerned  with  the  inner  philosophy  of  isolated 
facts  or  happenings,  though  it  should  be  said  to  the  credit 
of  the  highest  type  of  Latin  American  journalism,  such  as 
is  displayed  in  La  Prensa  and  La  Nacion  of  Argentina, 
El  Mer curio  of  Chile,  and  O Jornal  do  Commercio  of 
Brazil,  that  it  is  far  superior  to  this  description  and  not 
below  the  sound,  well-reasoned,  and  self-controlled  jour- 
nalism of  the  United  States,  England,  or  France. 

To  the  general  public  of  Latin  America,  the  Latin  Amer- 


150 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


ican  policy  of  the  United  States  seems  arrogant,  inter- 
meddling, oppressive,  and  insulting,  and  to  this  public 
are  addressed  the  oratorical  fireworks  of  professional  poli- 
ticians and  sensational  newspapers.  Intellectually,  this 
section  of  society  is  of  minor  importance,  but,  since  its 
cumulative  power  is  so  great  and  since  its  sentiments  are 
most  quickly  and  spontaneously  converted  into  action,  its 
verdicts  can  never  be  overlooked,  no  matter  how  extrava- 
gant they  may  be.  Usually,  too,  by  some  process  which 
requires  psychological  analysis,  its  intuitions  are  sane, 
especially  in  matters  that  affect  national  integrity.  Most 
of  the  protests  which  we  hear  with  regard  to  our  Latin 
American  policy  emanate  from  the  general  Latin  American 
public : and  who  shall  say  that  its  views  are  less  wise  than 
those  of  the  general  public  of  the  United  States,  which 
often  “demands”  things  on  sentimental  rather  than  on 
national  grounds? 

On  the  other  hand,  to  the  intellectual  elite  of  Latin 
America,  our  Latin  American  policy  appears  to  contain 
much  that  is  good  and  noble  as  well  as  much  that  is  bad 
and  selfish.  Dr.  Alejandro  Alvarez  of  Chile,  docteur  en 
droit  de  la  Faculte  de  Paris,  counselor  to  the  Ministry  of 
Foreign  Affairs  of  Chile,  a member  of  the  Hague  Court 
of  Arbitration,  and  the  author  of  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
and  erudite  volumes  on  international  law  entitled  Le  Droit 
International  Americain  (Paris,  1910)  may  be  selected  as 
the  spokesman  for  the  educated  opinion  of  Latin  America 
respecting  the  Latin  American  policy  of  the  United  States. 

According  to  Dr.  Alvarez,  the  Monroe  Doctrine  repre- 
sents the  will  and  the  interests  of  the  entire  Western 
Hemisphere,  and  not  merely  of  the  United  States.  By 
a combination  of  circumstances,  it  fell  to  the  lot  of  the 
United  States  to  enunciate  its  principles,  but  those  princi- 
ples would  sooner  or  later  have  been  declared  in  some 
other  part  of  the  American  continents  if  the  United  States 
had  not  taken  the  lead. 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


151 


THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE  IN  REALITY  A PAN  AMERICAN 
DOCTRINE 

All  the  American  republics  are  in  accord  as  to  the  neces- 
sity of  maintaining  the  essential  articles  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine,  and  “although  the  United  States  has  thus  far 
been  its  sole  defender,  there  could  now  be  found  Latin 
American  States  powerful  enough  to  maintain  it  if  the 
United  States  should  refuse  to  do  so.”  The  Monroe  Doc- 
trine is,  then,  not  simply  a North  American  doctrine:  it 
is,  in  so  far  as  President  Monroe’s  declaration  is  concerned, 
an  all-American  pronouncement,  and  the  Three  Americas 
would  vigorously  protest  any  violation  of  its  precepts. 

Nothing  could  be  more  logical  than  Dr.  Alvarez’s  state- 
ment of  the  cordial  acceptance  by  Latin  America  of  Presi- 
dent Monroe’s  basic  principles.  Whatever  misunderstand- 
ing has  existed  has  been  due  to  our  belief  that  some  of 
the  Latin  American  republics  would  not  have  been  above 
selling  themselves  to  European  powers,  or  would  not  have 
been  intelligent  enough  to  withstand  the  blandishments 
or  the  machinations  of  foreign  governments.  Cases  in 
point  are  the  offer  of  the  crown  of  Mexico  to  Maximilian 
by  a deputation  of  Mexicans  in  1863,  and  the  occasional 
reports  that  Mexico  and  one  or  two  other  republics  seemed 
willing  to  relinquish  extensive  public  rights  to  Japanese 
companies  which  had  the  support  of  the  Japanese  Gov- 
ernment. 

The  entire  history  of  Latin  America,  nevertheless,  dis- 
proves that  the  countries  as  a whole  were  in  sympathy  with 
the  treachery  of  a few  of  their  leaders ; and  the  vengeance 
which  the  Mexican  people  took  on  Maximilian  and  his 
adherents  may  well  have  served  as  a warning  to  other 
ambitious  or  misguided  European  princes.  Latin  America 
has  had  a few  Benedict  Arnolds,  but  they  have  never 
escaped  punishment  from  an  incensed  people  as  strongly 
intrenched  in  love  of  country  as  any  nation  of  the  world. 
The  surest  road  to  popularity  in  Latin  America  has  been 
the  course  taken  by  Francia,  Artigas,  Rosas,  Castro, 
Carranza,  who  defied  foreign  encroachment  and  consoli- 


152 


Tlie  Monroe  Doctrine 


dated  public  sentiment  by  the  mere  fact  that  they  stood 
forth  as  champions  of  the  national  dignity. 

With  the  original  Monroe  Doctrine  per  se,  Latin  Amer- 
icans of  the  stamp  of  Dr.  Alvarez  have  no  quarrel.  Their 
criticism  is  directed  almost  exclusively  against  the  con- 
ceptions of  imperialism  and  hegemony  which  have  grown 
out  of  the  exercise  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  of  the 
increase  in  population,  wealth,  and  power  of  the  United 
States. 

The  imperialistic  aims  of  the  United  States  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  They  are  a conse- 
quence of  the  historical  and  economic  development  of  the 
country,  and  gave  visible  signs  of  their  presence  long  be- 
fore the  Spanish- American  War  of  1898. 

The  annexation  of  Texas  in  1845,  the  attitude  of  Presi- 
dent Polk  with  regard  to  the  boundaries  of  Oregon  in 
1845  and  the  project  for  the  annexation  of  Yucatan  in 
1848,  President  Buchanan’s  plan  for  the  annexation  of 
the  northern  part  of  Mexico,  President  Grant’s  project 
for  the  annexation  of  Santo  Domingo  in  1870  are  all  evi- 
dence of  the  imperialistic  policy  of  the  United  States,  and 
bear  no  relation  to  the  principles  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine, 
though  these  principles  were  invoked  as  a justification  in 
each  case. 

It  is  necessary  [observes  Dr.  Alvarez,]  to  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  United  States  has  often  exercised  its  imperialistic 
policy  by  means  of  armed  force.  From  1836  to  1861,  it  thus 
intervened  twenty-five  different  times,  not  only  in  America,  hut 
also  in  Asia,  notably  in  China  and  Japan.  These  interventions 
were  sometimes  motivated  by  the  desire  for  territorial  expansion, 
and  sometimes  by  the  desire  for  commercial  development.  They 
were  so  numerous,  particularly  between  1850  and  1860,  that  it  was 
possible  to  say  then  that  they  constituted  the  ordinary  course  of 
action  of  American  diplomacy.  These  military  expeditions  pre- 
sent also  the  peculiarity  of  having  taken  place  without  a declara- 
tion of  war,  except  those  between  1775  and  1779  and  between 
1803  and  1804,  and  except  the  war  against  England  from  1812 
to  1814,  the  war  against  Mexico  in  1846,  and  the  war  against 
Spain  in  1898. 

That  this  imperialistic  tendency  might  give  rise  to  fears 
on  the  part  of  the  non-Caribbean  territories  of  Latin 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


153 


America  is  a natural  assumption.  Nevertheless,  intelligent 
observers  in  Argentina,  Chile,  Uruguay,  Brazil  entertain 
no  such  fears  for  their  own  countries.  They  are  fully 
convinced  that  too  great  a distance  separates  them  from 
the  United  States,  that  the  immediate  political  interests 
of  the  United  States  touch  them  only  slightly — an  idea 
implicitly  corroborated  by  Professor  John  H.  Latane’s  The 
United  States  and  Latin  America,  which  has  surprisingly 
little  to  say  about  the  political  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  the  non-Caribbean  territory  of  Latin  America 
— that  they  are  too  well  established  for  the  United  States 
to  be  able  to  allege  the  necessity  of  applying  to  them  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  in  its  various  ramifications,  and  that  too 
many  and  too  large  European  factors  are  interwoven  in 
their  economic  and  social  fabric  to  permit  the  United 
States  to  attempt  to  rend  it. 

What  they  do  protest  against  is  the  insistence  of  the 
United  States  in  extending  its  hegemonic  aspirations  south 
of  the  Caribbean  region.  Its  purpose  in  doing  so  is 
undoubtedly  a laudable  one  in  many  respects.  Certain 
weak  republics,  relying  on  the  protection  given  them  by 
the  true  Monroe  Doctrine,  may  wish  to  relax  their  inter- 
national obligations,  and  feel  that  they  can  conduct  them- 
selves with  impunity  toward  their  creditors  unless  there 
is  some  power  above  them  to  coerce  them  into  keeping 
their  contracts  inviolate.  One  republic  may  desire  to  cross 
the  boundary  of  its  neighbor  with  armed  forces.  Chile 
and  Peru,  because  of  their  outstanding  dispute  over  the 
possession  of  Tacna  and  Arica,  may  endanger  the  peace 
of  the  entire  continent  of  South  America  and  even  of  all 
Latin  America  if  permitted  to  have  their  own  way. 

“Who,”  the  United  States  inquires,  in  effect,  “is  going 
to  protect  the  still  impotent  Latin  American  republics 
against  themselves,  one  another,  and  foreign  nations  if  not 
the  United  States,  which  has  been  their  traditional  friend 
and  is  strong  enough  to  bring  antagonists  to  terms?  The 
vast  territories  of  Latin  America  have  incited  attack  from 
abroad  on  several  occasions.  The  possible  consequences  of 
recourse  to  armed  intervention  with  the  object  of  collect- 


154 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


ing  public  debts  have  already  led  to  the  formulation  of 
the  Drago  Doctrine  by  Dr.  Drago  of  Argentina,  and  the 
risks  attendant  on  civil  wars  in  Latin  America  have  given 
rise  to  the  Tobar  Doctrine,  formulated  by  Dr.  Tobar  of 
Ecuador,  which  seeks  to  bind  the  Latin  American  republics 
against  recognizing  any  government  originating  in  a revo- 
lution. Who  is  to  see  to  it  that  European  arbitrators, 
whom  Latin  American  republics  prefer  to  choose,  do  not 
use  to  their  own  advantage  the  powers  conferred  upon 
them  ? Who,  if  not  the  United  States,  can  prevent  revolu- 
tionary parties,  absorbed  in  their  desire  to  overthrow  the 
existing  government,  from  surrendering  vital  rights  to 
predatory  foreign  interests  or  nations  in  Europe  or  Asia? 
Has  not  the  United  States  been  obliged  at  times  to  investi- 
gate the  terms  under  which  certain  concessions  have  been 
made  to  foreign  companies,  such  as  the  recent  arrangement 
between  the  Marconi  Wireless  Telegraph  Company  of 
London  and  Peru — whereby  that  concern  was  granted  the 
privilege  of  operating  the  wireless,  postal,  and  telegraphic 
services  of  the  republic  for  a period  of  twenty-five  years 
— in  order  that  a monopoly  prejudicial  to  international 
trade  and  comity  might  not  be  established?” 

THE  TRANS-CARIBBEAN  COUNTRIES  ABLE  TO  SOLVE  THEIR  OWN 
POLITICAL  PROBLEMS 

The  answer  of  the  republics  of  the  non-Caribbean  region 
of  Latin  America  is  simple.  They  must  guard  their  in- 
terests to  the  same  extent  that  the  United  States  wishes 
to  guard  its  own  interests.  They  do  not  relish  any  tutelage 
imposed  upon  them  without  their  consent.  They  have  not 
stood  still  while  the  rest  of  the  world  has  moved  forward. 
They  are  free  agents,  and  entitled  to  take  any  political, 
social,  or  economic  measures  which  they  deem  suitable. 
There  is  no  such  connection  between  them  and  the  United 
States  as  there  is  between  the  Caribbean  republics  and 
the  United  States.  They  have  developed  their  institutions 
independently  of  any  suggestion  from  the  United  States, 
and  have  maintained  dignified  relations  with  the  rest  of 
the  world  through  their  own  foresight  and  power  of  adap- 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


155 


tation.  Among  themselves,  as  nations,  they  have  preserved 
the  peace  in  a way  that  puts  European  international  rela- 
tions to  shame,  for  in  the  hundred  years  since  their  inde- 
pendence, they  have  fought  only  two  international  wars, 
namely,  the  war  of  Paraguay  against  Brazil,  Uruguay,  and 
Argentina  (1865—1870)  and  the  war  of  Chile  against 
Bolivia  and  Peru  (1879-1884).  They  have  in  most  cases 
settled  their  own  troubles.  They  have  found  the  solution 
for  most  of  their  difficulties  with  one  another  through  the 
medium  of  arbitration,  and  have  actually  abided  by  the 
decisions  rendered  by  ai’bitral  bodies.  The  boundary  liti- 
gation between  Colombia  and  Costa  Rica  was  terminated 
by  the  arbitral  decision  of  the  French  Republic  in  1900 : 
President  Cleveland’s  decision  in  1895  regarding  contested 
points  between  Argentina  and  Brazil  relative  to  the  Terri- 
tory of  Misiones,  favorable  to  Brazil,  was  accepted  by 
both  sides : the  conflict  between  Argentina  and  Chile  con- 
cerning the  frontier  between  the  two  countries  was  brought 
to  an  end  by  the  decision  of  His  Britannic  Majesty  in 
1902:  the  contested  Puna  region  of  Atacama,  which 
aroused  great  feeling  between  Chile  and  Argentina,  was 
awarded  almost  in  its  entirety  to  Argentina  by  a commis- 
sion composed  of  a Chilean  representative,  an  Argentine 
representative,  and  the  United  States  minister  to 
Argentina. 

Differences  not  compounded  by  arbitration  have  been 
settled  by  voluntary  agreements  among  the  Latin  American 
republics  themselves.  Thus,  Bolivia  and  Brazil  in  1903 
concluded  the  Treaty  of  Petropolis  by  which  the  Territory 
of  Acre,  which  had  been  leased  to  the  Bolivian  Syndicate, 
a United  States  corporation,  was  ceded  to  Brazil  on  the 
payment  of  two  million  pounds  sterling  to  Bolivia,  with 
the  understanding  that  this  sum  should  be  expended  in 
the  construction  of  means  of  transportation  and  communi- 
cation between  the  two  countries.  Similarly,  the  pact  of 
1902  between  Argentina  and  Chile  on  the  limitation  of 
naval  armaments  was  voluntarily  entered  into,  and  termi- 
nated a disastrous  rivalry — and  that  momentous  pact, 
anticipating  by  a score  of  years  the  world  conference  on 


156 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


the  limitation  of  naval  armaments  (1921)  at  Washington, 
cannot  fail  to  raise  the  two  republics  in  question  in  foreign 
public  esteem  as  far-sighted  nations  capable  of  pointing 
the  way  to  international  improvement  to  other  larger 
nations  usually  considered  so  superior  in  political  sagacity. 

Reviewing  the  Monroe  Doctrine  or  the  Latin  American 
policy  of  the  United  States  in  its  triple  aspect  of  protec- 
tion, imperialism,  and  hegemony  from  any  just  angle  it 
is  difficult,  indeed,  to  see  where,  in  its  relation  to  the 
non-Caribbean  countries  of  Latin  America,  it  has  a leg 
to  stand  upon. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  the  comfort  or  well-being  of  the 
United  States,  it  is  not  now  necessary  as  a “hand  held 
up  in  warning,”  in  President  Wilson’s  words,  to  European 
powers,  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  the  peace  and  progress 
of  trans-Caribbean  Latin  America. 

Even  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  exercise  of  hegemony, 
it  represents  a needless  assumption  and  is  inimical  to  true 
Pan  Americanism.  The  only  satisfactory  hegemony  must 
come  from  within  Latin  America  itself,  and  the  principal 
factor  in  such  hegemony  already  exists  in  the  A.B.C. 
alliance  (Argentina,  Brazil,  and  Chile)  of  South  America. 

These  three  nations  [Senor  F.  Garcia  Calderon  reminds  us], 
wealthy,  military  powers,  situated  in  distinct  zones,  are  seeking 
confederation ; their  ambition  is  to  exercise  in  America  a tutelage 
which  they  consider  indispensable. — The  statesmen  of  Buenos- 
Ayres,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  and  Santiago  are  labouring  to  effect  the 
realisation  of  an  alliance  between  the  three  most  highly  civilised 
and  organised  and  most  advanced  nations  of  the  continent.  Once 
this  union  is  accomplished,  to  the  indisputable  influence  of  the 
United  States  will  be  added  the  moderative  influence  of  the  three 
great  States  of  the  South,  and  the  equilibrium  between  Latins 
and  Anglo-Saxons  would  be  its  immediate  result. 

The  future  will  undoubtedly  witness  the  growth  of  the 
A.B.C.  alliance  as  the  spokesman  for  Latin  America  and 
an  increased  tendency  on  the  part  of  Latin  American 
countries  to  seek  its  good  offices  rather  than  to  have  re- 
course to  European  governments  or  to  the  government  of 
the  United  States. 


The  Monroe  Doctrine 


157 


I 

BROADENING  OF  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE 

The  political  wisdom  manifested  in  1914  in  the  accep- 
tance by  the  United  States  of  the  cooperation  of  the  A.B.C. 
powers  for  the  solution  of  the  Mexican  conflict  between 
Victoriano  Huerta  and  the  United  States  cannot  but  merit 
the  approval  of  all  true  friends  of  Latin  America  and 
inspires  the  hope  that  a significant  precedent  has  been 
set  for  the  treatment  of  Latin  American  problems  affect- 
ing the  United  States.  Such  cooperation  should  at  least 
be  invoked  in  those  questions  arising  south  of  the  Carib- 
bean region  in  which  we  may  be  vitally  interested. 

Many  a public  measure  adopted  to  meet  a special  situa- 
tion at  a particular  moment  has  been  retained  long  after 
it  has  outlived  its  usefulness,  principally  because  no  way 
has  been  discovered  of  dropping  it  in  graceful  and  unosten- 
tatious fashion.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  is  particularly  hard 
to  drop  in  this  manner  on  account  of  its  age,  the  world- 
wide comment  which  it  has  aroused  for  nearly  a hundred 
years,  and  the  tenacious  belief  of  many  sincere  Americans 
in  its  efficacy.  Even  those  who,  like  Professor  Bingham, 
are  most  desirous  of  seeing  it  done  away  with  would  have 
difficulty  in  suggesting  a neat  and  swift  method  for  apply- 
ing the  coup  de  grace. 

Nonetheless,  it  is  possible  to  mitigate  the  real  evils  caused 
us  in  Latin  America  nearly  every  four  years  at  least,  and 
Professor  Bingham  has  indicated,  in  an  address  entitled 
“Should  We  Abandon  the  Monroe  Doctrine?”  and  de- 
livered at  Clark  University  in  1913,  the  most  simple 
immediate  steps  to  be  taken : 

Finally,  let  us  stop  using  the  words  “Monroe  Doctrine.”  It 
would  be  well  if  a formal  resolution  of  Congress  could  be  passed, 
but  since  Congress  has  never  formally  approved  of  the  Monroe 
Doctrine  in  so  many  words,  it  is  probable  that  it  would  be  suffi- 
cient if  our  great  parties  in  their  next  platforms  should  avoid 
the  repetition  of  those  phrases  supporting  the  doctrine  which 
have  been  customary  for  so  many  years. 


CHAPTER  VII 


INTERNATIONAL  RAPPROCHEMENT 

The  logical  alternative  to  the  hegemony  of  the  United 
States  is  a broad  Pan  Americanism  which  shall  allow  full 
play  to  the  Latin  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  civilizations  in  the 
New  World  and  at  the  same  time  draw  them  together 
through  the  bonds  of  social,  economic,  and  intellectual 
interests. 

Much  has  been  accomplished  in  that  direction  through 
many  agencies,  among  which  may  be  noted  the  following: 
the  visits  of  Secretaries  of  State  Root,  Knox,  and  Colby 
to  Latin  America;  President  Roosevelt’s  expedition  to 
Brazil;  the  interchange  of  professors  between  Chile  and 
Brazil  and  the  United  States;  the  numerous  congresses 
held  in  Washington,  Montevideo,  and  Buenos  Aires;  the 
labors  of  the  Pan  American  Union;  the  publication  of 
numerous  periodicals  in  this  country  presenting  the  Latin 
American  republics  in  a favorable  light;  the  appearance 
of  excellent  studies  of  Latin  American  literature;  the 
Spanish  edition  of  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical 
Association;  the  special  page  devoted  to  Latin  America 
in  several  of  our  newspapers ; the  visits  of  Latin  American 
statesmen  and  editors  to  our  cities ; our  arbitration  treaties 
with  practically  all  the  Latin  American  countries;  the 
groups  of  Latin  American  students  attending  our  schools 
and  universities;  the  unveiling  of  the  statue  of  Bolivar  in 
Central  Park,  New  York,  of  the  statue  of  Washington  in 
Caracas,  Venezuela,  and  of  the  portrait  of  Washington 
in  Buenos  Aires;  the  presentation  of  the  portrait  of  the 
Liberator  by  the  Venezuelan  Government  to  the  town  of 
Bolivar,  Missouri;  the  establishment  of  courses  in  Latin 
American  history,  literature,  and  current  affairs  in  our 
universities;  and  the  efforts  of  scores  of  individuals  and 

158 


International  Rapprochement  159 

associations  desirous  of  bringing  about  a real  rapproche- 
ment between  the  United  States  and  Latin  America. 

Most  of  these  advances,  as  is  apparent,  have  come  from 
the  United  States:  and  many  European  observers  have 
drawn  the  conclusion  that  they  but  thinly  veil  aggressive 
political  and  commercial  aims.  However,  leaving  aside  the 
ultimate  purpose  of  Pan  Americanism  from  our  standpoint, 
it  is  only  just  that  we  should  take  +he  first  steps  and  the 
greater  number  of  steps  toward  some  sort  of  friendly 
association.  For  one  thing,  we  have  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
and  its  unfavorable  interpretation  and  our  supervision  of 
several  Latin  American  countries  to  live  down,  and  for 
another,  common  courtesy  demands  that  we  should  go  more 
than  half-way  in  endeavors  toward  closer  friendship  with 
still  undeveloped,  but  proud  republics. 

The  chief  obstacles  which  stand  in  the  way  of  Pan  Amer- 
icanism are  not,  as  most  writers  have  sought  to  make  out, 
the  divergence  in  temperament  and  traditions  between  the 
Latin  American  peoples  and  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
nor  the  considerable  distance  between  the  United  States 
and  the  southern  half  of  the  neighboring  continent,  nor 
the  difference  in  culture.  None  of  these  causes  has  pre- 
vented a high  degree  of  comity  between  England  and 
Japan  or  between  the  United  States  and  France.  The  real 
obstacles  are  suspicion  of  our  motives  on  the  part  of  Latin 
America,  political  sabotage  by  European  officials,  writers, 
newspapers,  and  commercial  interests,  and  indifference 
among  all  but  a limited  group  of  Americans. 

The  first  of  these  causes  has  been  dealt  with  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter  and  needs  no  further  discussion  here. 

FOREIGN  ANTAGONISM  TO  PAN  AMERICAN  LEADERSHIP  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES 

By  the  second  is  meant  the  whole  paraphernalia  of 
jealousies,  conflicting  interests,  and  public  and  private  fear 
of  the  loss  of  prestige  or  profit  now  enjoyed.  It  is  inevi- 
table that  our  progress  in  Latin  America  should  put  the 
influential  European  countries  on  the  defensive  and  that 
they  should  try,  by  all  the  devices  that  are  fair  in  either 


160 


International  Rapprochement 


love  or  war,  to  belittle  the  attentions  and  distort  the  in- 
tentions of  the  United  States  toward  Latin  America.  The 
tactics  may  not  be  open  and  above-board — such  tactics  in 
such  cases  usually  are  not — but  they  operate  none  the  less 
persistently.  Already  in  1826,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
earliest  Pan  American  conference  of  all,  initiated  by 
Bolivar,  the  British  Foreign  Secretary,  George  Canning, 
whose  boast  it  was  that  he  “called  the  New  World  into 
existence  to  redress  the  balance  of  the  Old,”  declared,  as 
Professor  Latane  shows,  in  private  instructions  to  the 
special  British  envoy  who  was  to  place  himself  in  com- 
munication with  the  delegates  to  the  Panama  Congress, 
that 

Any  project  for  putting  the  U.  S.  of  North  America  at  the 
head  of  an  American  Confederacy,  as  against  Europe,  would 
be  highly  displeasing  to  your  Government.  It  would  be  felt 
as  an  ill  return  for  the  service  which  has  been  rendered  to  those 
States,  and  the  dangers  which  have  been  averted  from  them,  by 
the  countenance  and  friendship,  and  public  declarations  of  Great 
Britain;  and  it  would  probably,  at  no  distant  period,  endanger 
the  peace  both  of  America  and  of  Europe. 

The  third  reason,  which  seems  to  contradict  the  state- 
ment at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  of  the  multifarious 
means  taken  in  the  United  States  to  bring  about  Pan 
Americanism,  requires  some  explanation. 

Much  has,  indeed,  been  done  in  the  United  States  during 
the  past  few  years  to  strengthen  the  bonds  of  friendly  in- 
terest with  Latin  America,  but  it  has  been  done  mainly 
through  government  patronage,  through  the  universities, 
through  small  bodies  of  social  and  scientific  students,  and 
through  some  of  the  Women’s  Clubs.  The  larger  public 
still  knows  very  little  about  Latin  America.  It  will  con- 
tinue to  know  little  until  Latin  America  is  put  in  the 
public  schools,  until  the  social  treatment  accorded  Amer- 
ican students  in  foreign  countries  is  accorded  Latin 
American  students  in  our  country,  until  eminent  Latin 
American  men  and  women  and  noteworthy  Latin  American 
works  are  recognized  and  appreciated  here,  until  our  news- 
papers devote  as  much  attention  to  Latin  American  affairs 


International  Rapprochement  161 

as  to  European  or  Asiatic  affairs  and  have  as  good  a Latin 
American  cable  service  as  their  present  European  or  Japa- 
nese service,  and  until  the  Spanish  or  Portuguese  taught 
with  higher  aims  than  the  purely  commonplace  one  of 
in  our  schools  with  reference  to  Latin  America  is  taught 
enabling  our  young  men  to  sell  goods  to  Latin  America 
or  to  carry  on  Latin  American  commercial  correspondence. 

‘ ‘ Does  such  a programme  seem  exacting  or  extravagant  ? ’ ’ 
the  Latin  American  may  ask.  “If  it  does,  then  the  situa- 
tion is  as  we  have  thought  it.  You  are  not  really  anxious 
to  know  us,  or  to  be  on  close  terms  with  us,  or  to  be  able 
to  appreciate  us.  You  are  really  not  interested  in  us,  but 
only  in  those  things  belonging  to  us  which  you  can  use  to 
your  own  advantage.” 

Judged  impartially,  this  retort  would  seem  the  only 
logical  answer  to  our  protestations  of  friendship  backed  by 
nothing  stronger  than  scholarly  conferences  or  commercial 
advertising  of  Latin  America.  Intimacy  between  peoples 
is  won  either  by  stressing  the  traditional  ties  which  bind 
them — and  these  ties  we  have  not  with  Latin  America — 
or  by  the  development  of  intelligent  friendship.  We  have 
found  it  possible  on  various  occasions,  through  our  schools 
and  our  newspapers,  to  arouse  in  a short  time  an  extraor- 
dinary amount  of  sympathy  among  the  mass  of  our 
people  for  particular  nations,  such  as  the  French.  The 
cultivation  of  Latin  American  friendship  is  readily  pos- 
sible through  the  same  agencies. 

All  this  is  essential  if  we  are  proposing  a genuine  Pan 
American  solidarity.  It  is  the  more  necessary,  since  we 
must  start  at  the  very  bottom  and  build  up  about  Latin 
America  that  common  knowledge  which  every  schoolboy 
has  about  Greece  and  Rome,  England  and  France.  In  the 
past,  most  Americans  became  fairly  familiar  with  certain 
phases  of  Latin  American  civilization  and  romance  through 
the  labors  of  one  man — Prescott,  the  American  historian 
of  the  Incas  and  the  Aztecs.  To  Prescott  belongs  the  title 
of  the  greatest  teacher  in  this  country  of  Latin  American 
civilization  and  history.  But  Prescott  is  no  longer  read 
as  widely  as  a generation  or  two  ago,  and,  besides,  it  is 


162  International  Rapprochement 

not  so  much  in  primitive  Latin  America  as  in  the  whole 
extent  of  Lathi  American  evolution  down  to  our  own  days 
that  we  are,  or  should  be,  interested. 

What  material  is  there  not  available  for  writers  of  genius 
or  for  those  with  a popular  style  in  the  historical  and 
romantic  works  of  Spanish  American  and  Spanish  authors, 
in  the  folk-lore  of  Ricardo  Palma  of  Peru  and  Manuel 
Fernandez  Juncos  of  Porto  Rico,  in  the  mythology  and 
folk-lore  of  Professor  Hartley  Burr  Alexander’s  Latin 
American  Mythology,  in  the  lives  of  Latin  American  heroes 
as  told  in  Professor  William  Spence  Robertson’s  Rise  of 
the  Spanish- American  Republics,  in  the  accurate  and 
clearly  arranged  data  in  the  Encyclopedia  of  Latin 
America  edited  by  Mr.  Marrion  Wilcox  and  Mr.  George 
Edwin  Rines,  in  the  varied  and  interesting  narratives  and 
descriptions  of  the  Pan  American  Bulletin! 

Truly,  the  American  schoolboy  is  kept  in  ignorance  of 
a whole  world  which  should  be  as  important  to  him  as 
Greece,  Rome,  Assyria,  or  France! 

But  perhaps  such  broad  knowledge  of  Latin  America 
and  such  close  connection  with  its  peoples  is  more  than 
we  want.  Perhaps,  after  all,  we  are  satisfied  with  the  same 
kind  of  understanding  that  characterizes  our  relations  with 
China  or  Japan. 

In  that  case,  we  are  doing  all  that  is  humanly  possible: 
and  the  Pan  American  diplomatic  conferences  initiated  by 
Secretary  Blaine  in  1881,  and  continued  in  the  conferences 
of  1889,  1901-2,  1906,  1910,  the  Pan  American  scientific 
congresses  held  in  1908  and  1916,  the  Pan  American  finan- 
cial conferences  of  1915  and  1920,  the  general  meeting 
of  the  International  High  Commission  in  1916,  and  the 
sessions  of  the  American  Institute  of  International  Law 
in  1916,  some  of  which  have  taken  place  in  Washington 
and  the  rest  in  the  City  of  Mexico,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Buenos 
Aires,  together  with  such  subsidiary  gatherings  as  the  Pan 
American  Child  Welfare  Congresses  held  at  Buenos  Aires 
in  1916  and  at  Montevideo  in  1919,  are  bringing  together 
our  leaders  in  politics,  finance,  sanitation,  law,  education, 


International  Rapprochement  163 

and  social  welfare  and  through  them  slowly  disseminating 
a proper  appreciation  of  Latin  America. 

Judging,  however,  from  the  expressions  of  opinion  by 
thoughtful  Americans  and  Latin  Americans,  diplomatic 
and  intellectual  relations  will  never  be  able  to  achieve  Pan 
American  solidarity  in  its  best  and  most  lasting  form  until 
bonds  of  sympathetic  understanding  have  been  created 
among  the  peoples  themselves — bonds  similar  to  those  which 
subsist  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  or 
France  in  spite  of  wide  temperamental  differences  and 
occasional  friction.  Those  bonds  are  not  the  work  of 
diplomatists  or  financiers — who,  moreover,  often  jeopard- 
ize those  already  in  existence — but  of  something  much 
subtler  which  emanates  from  the  mass  of  the  people. 

Notwithstanding  the  effort  of  many  European  writers 
to  persuade  themselves  and  their  constituencies  that  the 
United  States  and  Latin  America  are  farther  apart  in 
every  way  than  Latin  America  and  Europe,  and  that  all 
the  methods  invoked  to  remove  the  distance  partake  of 
artificial  stimulation,  something  like  an  American  con- 
sciousness and  a sense  of  confraternity  does,  after  all, 
animate  the  republics  in  the  Western  Hemisphere.  The 
marked  similarity  in  history,  constitutions,  freedom  from 
the  caste  system,  extent  of  territory  and  consequent 
emphasis  on  extensive  rather  than  intensive  treatment  in 
agriculture  and  commerce,  vast  landscapes  and  illimitable 
skies,  early  pioneering  experience,  long  suspicion  of 
Europe,  and  New  World  ambitions  has,  in  reality,  given 
the  American  nations  a homogeneity  which  is  just  as 
effective  as  the  blood  and  traditions  inherited  from  Europe 
• — and  possibly,  in  this  day  and  age,  more  so. 

With  reason  does  Sarmiento’s  Facundo,  treating  of  early 
Argentina,  savor  strongly  of  the  life  on  our  great  western 
plains  before  they  became  the  populous  states  of  to-day, 
and  with  reason  does  the  Honorable  Charles  H.  Sherrill, 
our  Minister  to  Argentina  from  1909  to  1911,  speak  of 
“subtly  Americanizing  surroundings”  in  the  following 
lively  parallel. 


164 


International  Rapprochement 


I am  an  enthusiastic  Pan-American,  and  an  earnest  believer 
in  the  high  ideals  of  Pan-Americanism,  and  one  of  those  ideals 
is  respect  for  the  viewpoint  of  our  fellow  Americans.  The 
peoples  of  our  hemisphere  have  been  allowed  to  develop 
naturally  in  an  atmosphere  of  liberty  and  of  ample  oppor- 
tunity, amid  surroundings  that  in  Europe  the  trammels  of  an 
older  civilization  would  have  rendered  either  difficult  or  im- 
possible. This  very  freedom  of  the  Americas  has  worked 
strange  and  radical  changes  in  the  European  races  that  came 
to  it  and  have  become  Americanized  by  its  influence.  It  has 
accelerated  the  mentality  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  of  North 
America,  and  it  has  steadied  and  broadened  the  vitality  and 
energy  of  the  Latin  of  South  America,  and  it  is  insensibly 
bringing  them  nearer  together.  An  interesting  ethnological 
parallel  could  be  drawn  between  the  change  effected  in  an 
Irishman  by  moving  him  from  Ireland  to  New  York,  and  that 
in  a Spanish  emigrant  before  he  leaves  his  home  and  after 
he  arrives  in  the  subtly  Americanizing  surroundings  of  Buenos 
Aires.  If  it  isn’t  the  new  environment  that  works  the  trans- 
formation, what  is  it? — and  if  the  same  effect  is  produced 
at  points  six  thousand  miles  apart,  isn’t  it  fair  to  call  that 
effect  Pan-American ! ...  We  hear  much  of  the  steadiness 
and  self-control  of  the  Anglo-Saxon,  and  of  the  importance 
that  lends  to  his  opinions — when  I was  in  Buenos  Aires  an 
anarchist  bomb  exploded  in  the  great  opera  house  in  the  midst 
of  an  audience  of  Pan-American  Latins.  What  happened? 
First,  ask  yourself  what  would  have  happened  if  a bomb  had 
exploded  in  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House  among  us  Anglo- 
Saxons; — I fear  that  all  of  us  who  are  honest  minded  will 
reluctantly  agree  as  to  the  probable  results.  What  happened 
in  Buenos  Aires?  A remarkable  scene,  which  is  a glory  to 
Argentine  citizenship.  No  tumult,  no  undue  excitement.  The 
injured  were  removed  while  the  orchestra  played  the  national 
anthem.  Announcement  was  made  from  the  stage  that  the 
performance  was  discontinued,  and  the  audience  filed  quietly 
out.  If  you  had  been  there  you  would  have  been  as  proud 
of  those  people  as  I was — as  proud  of  their  poise,  and  of  their 
reserve  strength  of  character,  and  furthermore  as  respectful 
of  their  viewpoint,  as  the  most  enthusiastic  believer  in  the 
future  of  our  hemisphere  could  wish. 

Rapprochement,  whether  called  Pan  Americanism  or  by 
any  other  name  denoting  the  close  association  of  the  Amer- 
ican peoples,  does  not  appear  visionary  nor  uncongenial 
when  one  has  seen  a section  of  Latin  American  society  in 
circumstances  like  those  described  by  Mr.  Sherrill:  nor 
does  it  appear  so  to  Americans  who  have  lived  day  in  and 


International  Rapprochement  165 

day  out  in  Latin  American  circles  comparable  to  his  own 
at  home.  Naturally,  rapproachement  may  seem  difficult 
to  educated  Americans  who  visit  Latin  America  hastily 
and  judge  whole  nations  by  the  laborers  in  the  mines,  in 
the  cane-fields,  or  on  the  docks. 

RAPPROCHEMENT  BETWEEN  LATIN  AMERICA  AND  EUROPEAN 
LATIN  COUNTRIES 

Other  countries,  too,  are  seeking  a closer  rapprochement 
with  Latin  America  by  the  same  means  employed  by  the 
United  States,  but  with  the  initial  advantage  of  that  senti- 
mental and  racial  sympathy  which  is  denied  us.  Our  rela- 
tions are  at  present  limited  to  the  intellectual  and  com- 
mercial spheres,  whereas  a country  like  Spain  can  count 
on  the  benefits  of  identity  .in  traditions,  customs,  manners, 
and  social  intimacy.  As  Spain  progresses  along  the  path 
of  modern  evolution,  her  stake  in  Latin  America  is  sure 
to  grow.  The  days  of  tension  have  disappeared,  and  Spain 
appeals  once  more  to  the  Latin  American  heart  as  the 
glorious  mother-country,  often  mistaken  in  the  past,  but 
seeking  to  atone  in  the  present  for  her  errors. 

Remarkable  efforts  are  therefore  being  made  by  Spanish 
statesmen  and  intellectual  and  social  leaders  to  gain  an 
increasing  place  in  the  sun  that  shines  on  Latin  America. 
Treaties  of  arbitration  have  been  concluded  between  Spain 
and  her  former  colonies:  sociological,  economic,  and  jurid- 
ical congresses  have  united  Spanish  and  Latin  American 
thinkers  at  frequent  intervals : Latin  Americans  are  elected 
to  positions  of  honor  in  Spanish  societies  and  academies: 
a tone  of  benevolence  characterizes  the  Spanish  criticism 
of  Latin  American  literature  and  arts:  the  Infanta  Isabel 
visited  Argentina  and  Chile  on  the  occasion  of  the  cen- 
tennial anniversary  of  their  independence  and  was 
accorded  triumphal  ovations:  the  King  of  Spain  has  for 
some  time  been  planning  a tour  to  South  America:  and 
Spanish-American  social  and  cultural  centers  are  being 
established  in  various  Spanish  cities  to  foment  a spirit 
of  fraternal  cordiality. 

This  species  of  Hispanic  union  should  eventually  lead 


166  International  Rapprochement 

to  the  sentimental  and,  possibly,  artistic  preponderance  of 
Spain  in  Latin  America,  and  need  not  be  looked  at  askance 
by  the  United  States  so  long  as  a sense  of  fair  play  and 
truth,  often  absent  in  the  Spanish  discussions  of  the  atti- 
tude of  the  United  States  toward  Latin  America,  is  pre- 
served by  Spanish  publicists.  It  should  prove  complemen- 
tary in  a valuable  way  to  the  present  intellectual  and 
artistic  preponderance  wielded  by  France  and  to  the  com- 
mercial and  political  preponderance  exercised  by  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain.  To  Spain  it  may  ulti- 
mately mean  economic  salvation:  and  to  Latin  America, 
in  conjunction  with  the  other  influences  mentioned,  an 
ethnic  renovation  in  which  the  fundamental  traits  of  an 
old  civilization  are  allied  to  the  more  vigorous  character- 
istics of  a technological  age. 

The  significant  fact  is  that  while  modern  conditions  are 
driving  Latin  America  farther  and  farther  away  from  the 
world  in  which  the  mother-country  still  exists,  the  attrac- 
tion of  blood,  or  even  more  truly,  of  sentimental  re- 
membrance is  drawing  it  closer  to  Spain  than  it  has  ever 
been  in  the  past.  It  is  probable,  also,  that  the  antagonistic 
Spanish  and  conservative  elements  in  the  Latin  American 
population  are  using  the  sentimental  appeal  as  a counter- 
poise to  the  feelings  of  the  more  progressive  younger  gen- 
eration, which  cannot  resist  the  lure  of  the  energy,  prompt- 
ness, decisiveness,  and  the  less  traditional  methods  and 
thought  of  the  United  States. 

RAPPROCHEMENT  AMONG  THE  LATIN  AMERICAN  COUNTRIES 
THEMSELVES 

International  rapprochement , however,  is  not  restricted 
to  the  creation  of  bonds  of  interest  between  Latin  America 
and  the  United  States,  Spain,  France,  or  the  rest  of  the 
outside  world,  but  is  at  this  moment  exceedingly  active 
among  the  Latin  American  republics  themselves.  Its  effects 
are  visible  in  the  magnanimous  utterance  (August,  1921) 
of  President  Tamayo  of  Ecuador  concerning  the  boundary 
dispute  between  his  country  and  Peru:  “I  believe  that 

by  the  exercise  of  good  will,  serene  judgment,  and  a spirit 


International  Rapprochement 


167 


of  sincere  Americanism  an  equitable  and  reciprocally  bene- 
ficial arrangement  can  be  effected,  particularly  since  the 
prosperity  of  one  of  the  countries  will  tend  to  contribute 
to  the  progress  of  the  other”;  in  the  peaceful  measures 
recently  taken  to  settle  questions  relating  to  frontiers  and 
doubtful  territory  between  Bolivia  and  Paraguay  and  be- 
tween Uruguay  and  Brazil;  in  Chile’s  support  of  the 
Argentine  amendments  before  the  League  of  Nations, 
followed  by  expressions  of  sympathy  from  nearly  all  the 
Latin  American  republics;  in  the  rules  adopted  by  the 
A.B.C.  Treaty,  which  was  signed  at  Buenos  Aires  on  May 
25,  1915,  “for  proceeding  to  facilitate  the  friendly  solution 
of  questions  that  were  formerly  excluded  from  arbitra- 
tion”; and  in  the  visit  of  the  Argentine  battleship 
Sarmiento  to  Mexico  during  the  present  year  (1921),  which 
gave  rise  to  expressions  of  cordial  friendship.  - 

Above  all,  the  resurrection  of  the  idea  of  free  trade 
among  the  Latin  American  republics,  the  feeling  that  the 
Confederation  of  Greater  Colombia  may  some  day  be  re- 
vived, and  the  actual  reestablishment  of  the  Central 
American  Union  demonstrate  that  a Latin  American  con- 
sciousness is  gradually  developing  and  that  the  separatism 
of  the  past,  which  has  been  concerned  primarily  with  the 
demarcation  of  nationalistic  lines,  is  being  modified  by  the 
necessity  of  cohesion  forced  on  Latin  America  by  its 
geographical  position  and  by  its  treatment  abroad  as  one 
large  family.  It  almost  inevitably  follows,  when  foreign 
countries  view  Latin  America  as  a unit  rather  than  as 
separate  countries,  that  a sense  of  unity,  originally  absent, 
will  finally  make  itself  felt. 

The  interchange  of  products,  as  a writer  in  the  South 
'American  shows,  is  still  in  an  embryonic  state  in  Latin 
America. 

With  some  exceptions,  such  as  Peruvian  sugar  to  Chile, 
Paraguayan  tea  to  Argentina,  Brazilian  coffee  and  bananas  to 
Argentina  and  some  Argentine  wheat  to  Brazil,  there  is  prac- 
tically no  interchange  of  produce  between  them.  The  excellent 
Chilean  wine  and  coal  are  never  found  in  other  South  Ameri- 
can countries;  Argentine  meat  was  never  eaten  in  Brazil,  even 
in  the  days  before  the  war  when  fresh  Brazilian  meat  was 


168 


International  Rapprochement 


very  bad;  and  even  to-day  the  mutton  consumed  in  Rio  de 
Janeiro  comes  from  New  Zealand  in  preference  to  Punta 
Arenas.  Ecuador  sells  no  cacao  or  Panama  hats  to  her  neigh- 
bors, Brazil  no  rubber,  and  the  emeralds  of  Colombia  find 
their  way  to  Buenos  Aires  only  via  London  or  Paris. 

FREE  TRADE  AND  RAPPROCHEMENT 

High  tariffs  for  revenue  and  the  influence  of  the  pro- 
prietors of  certain  large  industries  in  the  various  countries 
have  maintained  a situation  due  in  part,  no  doubt,  to  the 
ancient  Spanish  monopolistic  system.  But  the  greater  ease 
with  which  many  of  the  products  could  be  sold  at  the  sea- 
board to  foreign  nations,  the  active  demand  of  these  nations 
for  the  great  staples,  and  the  control  of  many  of  the  latter 
by  foreign  companies  were  likewise  determining  factors  in 
retarding  the  interchange  of  commodities  among  the  Latin 
American  republics.  To  these  causes  must  also  be  added 
the  home  demand  for  the  manufactured  articles  of  Europe 
and  the  United  States. 

The  notion  of  free  trade  was,  nevertheless,  broached  as 
early  as  1856,  and  was  stipulated  in  the  treaty  of  that 
year  between  Argentina  and  Chile.  Revived  recently  by 
statesmen,  businessmen,  and  newspapers,  and  especially  by 
La  Prensa  of  Buenos  Aires,  the  movement  for  free  trade, 
or  at  least,  for  freer  trade  appears  to  be  gaining  ground 
not  only  in  southern  but  in  northern  Latin  America  as 
well.  A removal  of  the  intolerable  imposts  which  stifle 
inter-American  trade  and  keep  the  cost  of  living  high 
would  unquestionably  prove  an  economic  advantage  and 
might  for  some  republics,  as  Mr.  Roger  Babson  predicts 
for  Panama,  result  in  cities  rivaling  the  noteworthy  com- 
mercial centers  of  Europe  or  the  United  States.  More 
than  that,  it  would  prove  a blessing  to  the  Latin  American 
republics  which  have  entered  the  industrial  era. 

But  far  superior  to  all  other  considerations  is  the  effect 
which  it  would  have  in  stimulating  Latin  American  inter- 
national unity  and  strength.  So  long  as  Latin  America 
is  dependent  on  foreign  markets  for  the  disposal  of  its 
agricultural  and  mineral  wealth  and  for  the  manufactured 
goods  which  it  consumes,  just  so  long  will  it  be  subject 


International  Rapprochement 


169 


to  the  preponderance  of  one  foreign  nation  or  another,  and 
just  so  long  will  its  internal  politics  be  determined  largely 
from  the  outside.  Let  it,  however,  rely  generously  on  its 
own  capacity  for  attending  to  its  own  wants — its  abstention 
from  doing  so  having  proved  thus  far  the  great  reason 
for  its  abnormally  extensive  commerce  with  Europe  and 
the  United  States — and  closer  and  more  friendly  relations 
follow  among  its  members,  accompanied  by  an  added  sense 
of  dignity  and  independence. 

If  the  career  of  other  countries  can  be  taken  as  an  index, 
the  Latin  American  republics  must  in  the  near  future 
embark  on  that  general  reciprocal  exchange  of  products 
which  the  construction  of  interstate  railroads,  automobile 
highways,  telegraph  lines,  and  coastal  vessels,  now  under 
way,  is  sure  to  stimulate  to  a high  pitch.  Already  the  cry 
“Latin  America  for  Latin  Americans”  has  been  raised  in 
some  quarters,  and  the  corollary,  “Latin  American  prod- 
ucts for  Latin  Americans,”  may  be  expected  to  become  a 
watchword  of  economic  and  political  unification — and  a 
warning  to  the  outside  world. 

POLITICAL  CONFEDERATION 

The  most  direct  means  of  unification,  namely,  political 
confederation,  will,  however,  continue  to  appeal  to  a fair 
share  of  Latin  Americans  as  the  ultimate  goal  to  be  sought. 
Whether  or  not  the  confederation  of  all  Latin  America 
or  of  some  of  the  republics  lying  in  the  same  geographical 
zone  is  possible  or  even  desirable  is  a debatable  question. 
The  history  of  the  Central  American  Confederation,  which 
has  been  revived  as  the  Central  American  Union,  or,  as 
it  is  entitled  in  the  covenant  adopted  by  Guatemala, 
Salvador,  Honduras,  and  Costa  Rica  on  January  19,  1921, 
the  Federation  of  Central  America,  is  illuminating  as  to 
both  the  ideals  professed  and  the  results  thus  far  observ- 
able. 

The  ideals  are  those  held  by  Bolivar  when,  in  1826, 
he  convoked  at  Panama  the  first  congress  of  the  nations 
of  the  New  World  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a new 
“equilibrium  of  the  universe”  to  offset  the  political 


170 


International  Rapprochement 


equilibrium  maintained  by  Europe.  But  already  in  1814 
the  thought  was  dear  to  him,  and  the  place  of  meeting  for 
the  nations  had  been  determined  upon  by  him: 

How  beautiful  it  would  be  if  the  isthmus  of  Panama  were 
for  us  what  the  isthmus  of  Corinth  was  for  the  Greeks!  Would 
that  we  might  have  some  day  the  good  fortune  to  inaugurate 
there  an  august  congress  of  the  representatives  of  the  re- 
publics, kingdoms  and  empires,  to  treat  of  and  to  discuss  the 
high  concerns  of  peace  and  war,  with  the  nations  of  the  other 
parts  of  the  world!  A corporation  of  this  kind  might  come 
into  being  in  some  happy  period  of  our  regeneration. 

Bolivar’s  generous  hope  was  frustrated,  though  it  has 
in  our  days  appeared  elsewhere,  in  the  League  of  Nations, 
in  the  Conference  for  the  Limitation  of  Naval  Armaments, 
and  in  President  Harding’s  project  for  an  Association  of 
Nations.  The  failure  of  the  Panama  Congress  was  due 
in  part  to  the  political  conditions  existing  in  some  of  the 
Latin  American  republics  and  to  the  inability  of  some  of 
them  to  send  delegates  to  the  Isthmus.  In  part,  also,  the 
failure  was  due  to  the  desire  of  the  United  States  to  have 
a free  hand  in  its  political  action,  though  one  of  the  main 
objects  of  the  Conference,  as  outlined  in  its  programme, 
was: 

To  take  into  consideration  the  means  of  rendering  effective 
the  declaration  of  the  president  of  the  United  States  [Monroe] 
in  respect  to  the  ulterior  designs  of  any  foreign  power  to 
colonize  any  part  of  the  continent,  and  the  means  of  resisting 
any  decided  interference  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  the  Ameri- 
can governments. 

As  the  first  proponent  of  genuine  Pan  Americanism, 
Bolivar  suffered  the  fate  of  the  proverbial  prophet.  His 
ideas  or  portions  of  his  ideas  were  later  taken  up  by 
Mexico,  by  Peru,  and  by  combinations  of  various  republics, 
but  always  with  the  same  result.  Unanimity  of  action  was 
lacking,  signatures  could  not  be  obtained  from  all  govern- 
ments represented,  some  republics  abstained  from  partici- 
pating in  the  congresses,  or  some  of  the  principles  put  forth 
were  characterized  as  contrary  to  the  law  of  nations  or  to 
the  obligations  of  one  or  more  of  the  members. 


STATUE  OE  BOLIVAR,  LIMA, 


International  Rapprochement 


171 


Especially  persistent  have  been  the  attempts  of  the  Cen- 
tral American  republics  to  combine  their  forces  and  their 
resources  under  a united  administration,  and  especially 
disconcerting  have  been  their  repeated  failures  to  arrive 
at  concrete  results.  That  the  project  for  unification  is 
logical  and  beautiful,  cannot  be  gainsaid,  and  that  it  has 
had  sincere  and  ardent  advocates  since  its  inception  in  the 
early  days  of  independence  is  patent  to  every  reader  of 
Central  American  history.  Yet  the  newly  created  Federa- 
tion of  Central  America  begins  its  life  this  year  with  a 
most  discouraging  past  to  live  down. 

What  can  seem  more  practical  or  more  necessary  to  the 
mind  of  a citizen  of  the  United  States  than  a union  of 
the  five  States  or  republics  of  Central  America?  United, 
they  form  a territory  of  179,916  square  miles — exceeding 
that  of  the  United  Kingdom  by  more  than  58,000  square 
miles — and  possess  a total  population  of  over  5,000,000 
inhabitants:  divided,  the  largest  of  them,  Nicaragua,  com- 
prises an  area  of  49,000  square  miles,  and  Salvador,  the 
smallest,  of  only  13,176  square  miles;  and  the  individual 
populations  run  from  about  half  a million  in  Costa  Rica 
to  something  like  2,000,000  in  Guatemala.1  United,  their 
total  annual  commerce  amounts  to  about  $150,000,000: 
divided,  it  is  parceled  out  in  relatively  insignificant  sums 
among  the  five  republics.  As  separate  States,  they  main- 
tain five  armies,  five  navies,  five  complete  departments  of 
public  administration,  and  five  varying  systems  for  the 
collection  of  customs  duties.  As  one  State,  they  could 
either  have  defensive  forces  of  some  size  or  do  away  with 
the  majority  of  those  now  in  existence;  they  could  unify 
their  external  and  internal  procedure,  economize  in  hun- 
dreds of  different  ways,  command  excellent  foreign  credit, 
build  up  their  means  of  communication  and  transporta- 
tion in  accordance  with  a definite  plan,  and  vastly  increase 
educational  facilities ; and,  above  all,  they  could  rid  them- 
selves of  the  constant  dangers  and  losses  incident  to  the 
ambitions  and  quarrels  of  at  least  ten  sets  of  opposing 

1 The  above  figures  are  based  on  the  latest  data  issued  by  the 
Pan  American  Union. 


172  International  Rapprochement 

political  leaders  by  reducing  the  number  of  candidates  to 
the  supreme  power  to  little  more  than  two.  United,  as 
an  editorial  in  the  New  York  Evening  Post  suggests,  “the 
little  states  can  gain  the  same  benefits  in  governmental 
integrity  and  efficiency,  in  the  facilitation  of  trade  and 
industry,  and  in  prestige  abroad  that  the  thirteen  Amer- 
ican States  gained  from  their  more  perfect  union  in  1787.” 

The  advantages  of  union  are  so  many  and  those  of  con- 
tinued division  so  few  that  anything  less  than  consolidation 
seems  preposterous  and  a severe  reflection  on  the  intellec- 
tual capacity  of  the  people  of  the  five  republics.  Never- 
theless, Central  America  has  produced  its  quota  of  really 
great  minds,  has  made  notable  progress  both  economically 
and  politically,  and  is  no  more  backward  than  the  numerous 
small  States  of  Europe  which  insist  on  individual  existence 
and  fight  for  it.  The  reasons  for  division  in  Central 
America  are  also,  in  the  main,  the  same  reasons,  even  to 
racial  and  temperamental  differences,  which  have  kept  all 
Scandinavia  or  all  of  southern  Europe  between  the  Adriatic 
and  the  Black  Sea  from  combining  into  one  corporate 
body. 

RECENT  ESTABLISHMENT  OP  THE  REPUBLIC  OP  CENTRAL 
AMERICA 

Perhaps,  however,  all  such  discussion  is  now  beside  the 
mark,  since  a Federation  of  Central  America  has  actually 
been  constituted,  Honduras,  Guatemala,  and  Salvador  have 
lost  their  sovereign  power  (October,  1921),  a Federal 
Council  has  assumed  the  supreme  authority,  and  a dis- 
tinguished diplomatist  of  Guatemala  has  been  mentioned 
for  the  honor  of  occupying  for  the  first  time  the  presiden- 
tial chair  of  the  new  republic.  That  Nicaragua  and  Costa 
Rica  have  not  yet  actually  joined  the  association  is  not 
of  the  highest  significance,  for  Article  XVIII  of  the 
Covenant  of  January  19,  1921,  expressly  stipulates  the 
following : 

The  ratification  of  this  treaty  by  three  of  the  contracting 
states  shall  be  sufficient  to  cause  it  to  be  considered  binding 


International  Rapprochement  173 

and  obligatory  among  them  and  to  cause  them  to  proceed  to 
its  fulfilment. 

Any  state  that  shall  not  approve  this  covenant  may,  however, 
enter  the  federation  at  any  time  when  it  shall  make  solicita- 
tion, and  the  federation  shall  admit  it  without  the  necessity 
of  other  steps  than  the  presentation  of  the  law  approbatory 
of  this  treaty  and  of  the  federal  constitution  and  constituent 
laws.  In  such  an  event,  the  federal  council  and  the  two  legis- 
lative chambers  shall  be  increased  accordingly. 

Nicaragua  is  presumed  to  have  abstained  from  becoming 
a member  of  the  Federation  on  account  of  the  Bryan- 
Chamorro  Treaty,  by  virtue  of  which  the  United  States 
has  obtained  the  right  in  perpetuity  to  construct,  operate, 
and  maintain  an  interoceanic  canal  “via  the  San  Juan 
River  and  the  Great  Lake  of  Nicaragua,  or  through  any 
route  on  the  territory  of  Nicaragua”;  and  the  Government 
of  Nicaragua  has  leased  to  the  United  States  for  a period 
of  99  years  Great  Corn  Island  and  Little  Corn  Island  and 
given  the  United  States  the  right  to  a naval  base  on  the 
Gulf  of  Fonseca,  in  consideration  of  which  stipulations 
the  United  States  pays  Nicaragua  the  sum  of  $3,000,000 
gold,  to  be  applied  on  the  Nicaragua  debt.  Why  this  trans- 
action should  stand  in  the  way  of  Nicaragua’s  adherence 
to  the  Federation  is,  nevertheless,  not  clear,  since  Article 
IV  of  the  Covenant  of  January  19,  1921,  specifically  states 
that 

Until  the  federal  government  shall  have  secured,  by  means 
of  diplomatic  procedure,  the  modification,  derogation  or  re- 
placement of  the  existing  treaties  between  the  states  of  the 
federation  and  foreign  nations,  each  state  shall  respect,  and 
continue  to  comply  faithfully  with,  the  treaties  that  obtain 
between  it  and  any  foreign  nation  or  nations,  to  the  full  extent 
involved  in  the  existing  engagements. 

Without  doubt,  other  motives  underlie  Nicaragua’s 
present  attitude  toward  the  Federation. 

As  for  Costa  Rica’s  refusal  to  join  her  sister  republics, 
many  reasons  have  been  alleged,  any  one  of  which  may 
have  proved  to  be  the  determining  factor.  Her  geograph- 
ical position,  which  cuts  her  off  from  all  the  other  republics 
except  Nicaragua;  her  disputes  with  the  latter  country; 


174 


International  Rapprochement 


her  feeling  of  superiority,  born  of  her  purer  Spanish  strain, 
uninterrupted  prosperity,  freedom  from  revolutions, 
greater  educational  advancement ; her  weaker  military 
status;  her  fear  that  she  may  lose  her  present  excellent 
prestige  if  swallowed  up  by  the  Union;  her  dependence 
on  American  capital;  and  her  traditional  policy,  demon- 
strated on  numerous  occasions,  of  abstaining  from  taking 
the  final  step  in  projects  for  the  unification  of  Central 
America — all  or  any  of  these  causes  may  have  influenced 
her  in  declining  finally  to  enter  the  Federation,  though 
she  was  a party  to  the  Covenant  of  January  19,  1921,  and 
a signatory  to  it  through  her  delegates,  Don  Alejandro 
Alvarado  Quiros  and  Don  Cleto  Gonzalez  Viquez. 

To  the  Covenant  or  the  Constitution  evolved  from  it, 
objection  is  almost  impossible  by  any  of  the  States.  It 
is  a most  liberal  and  conciliatory  document. 

It  stresses  throughout  the  federative  character  of  the 
Union.  Each  state  is  to  “preserve  its  autonomy  and  inde- 
pendence for  the  management  and  direction  of  its  internal 
affairs”;  the  executive  power  is  vested  in  a federal  council 
of  five  proprietary  delegates  and  five  alternates,  one  of 
each  to  be  elected  from  each  state  by  popular  vote  for  a 
term  of  four  years;  and  the  president  and  vice-president 
of  the  Federation  are  to  be  chosen  by  the  Federal  Council 
from  among  the  proprietary  delegates  for  a period  of  one 
year  and  are  to  act  always  in  the  name  and  by  the  vote 
or  instruction  of  the  Federal  Council.  The  resemblance 
here  to  the  commission  form  of  government  of  some  of 
our  cities  is  striking.  Foreign  countries  are  protected  in 
their  rights,  since  the  states  “shall  continue  to  meet  the 
payments  on  their  present  internal  and  foreign  debts,”  to 
which  the  Federal  Government  pledges  itself  to  pay  par- 
ticular attention.  None  of  the  states,  as  is  to  be  expected, 
may  contract  foreign  loans  without  the  ratification  of  a 
federal  law.  Similarly,  no  state  may  enter  into  contracts 
“that  shall  in  any  way  compromise  its  sovereignty  or  inde- 
pendence or  the  integrity  of  its  territory.”  Dissatisfaction 
with  such  terms  can  come  only  from  foreign  nations  which 
might  hope  to  accomplish  more  for  themselves  through 


International  Rapprochement  175 

dealings  with  the  separate  states  than  with  the  Federation 
as  a whole. 

Theoretically,  scarcely  a flaw  can  be  found  with  the  idea 
of  the  Federation  or  with  the  political  or  economic  founda- 
dations  on  which  it  is  based.  The  project  deserves  the 
support  of  everybody  who  has  the  advancement  of  Central 
America  at  heart.  Yet,  for  two  capital  reasons,  serious 
doubt  arises  as  to  the  permanence  of  the  union.  In  the 
first  place,  two  states,  Nicaragua  and  Costa  Rica,  have,  at 
the  very  outset,  seen  fit  to  remain  outside  the  Federation. 
In  the  second  place,  a long  career  of  failure  has  dogged 
the  Federation  from  the  past,  though  the  circumstances 
leading  to  the  attempts  at  union  and  the  advantages  of 
such  union  have  always  been  very  like  the  circumstances 
and  the  advantages  of  the  present  endeavor. 

ANTECEDENTS 

In  1821,  exactly  one  hundred  years  ago,  the  different 
countries  of  Central  America  constituted  themselves  into 
the  Central  American  Federation.  The  federation  was 
short-lived,  for  Iturbide,  Emperor  of  Mexico,  promptly 
annexed  it  to  his  own  domains  in  1822.  The  downfall  of 
Iturbide  was  followed  by  a renewal  of  the  Federation, 
which  lasted  from  1823  to  1838.  After  a period  of  separa- 
tion beginning  with  the  latter  year,  the  five  states 
repeatedly  attempted  either  complete  or  partial  union  in 
1842,  1845,  1847,  1849,  1852,  Costa  Rica  preferring  almost 
always  to  stand  off  by  itself,  and  Guatemala  usually  mak- 
ing war  on  the  Federation.  In  connection  with  the  Con- 
federation of  1847,  the  three  member  states,  Nicaragua, 
Honduras,  and  Salvador,  exasperated  by  the  attitude  of 
Guatemala,  undertook  a war  for  the  purpose  of  obliging 
her  to  join  them,  but  were  themselves  defeated  by  General 
Carrera.  Between  1870  and  1890,  the  feeling  for  con- 
federation in  Latin  America  slackened,  as  Dr.  Alejandro 
Alvarez  demonstrates,  and  was  replaced  in  Central  America, 
as  elsewhere,  by  a fondness  for  congresses  of  a more  or 
less  technical  nature,  the  change  being  due  principally  to 
the  greater  stability  attained  and  the  disappearance  of 


176  International  Rapprochement 

fears  of  aggression  by  Spain.  Central  American  Congresses 
met  in  Guatemala  in  1876  and  in  1887,  in  Costa  Rica  in 
1888,  and  in  Salvador  in  1889,  treaties  of  peace  and  friend- 
ship were  signed,  and  a Republic  of  Central  America  was 
projected,  but  definite  results  in  the  way  of  federation 
were  never  arrived  at. 

The  friends  of  confederation,  however,  refused  to  yield 
to  the  difficulties  which  they  encountered  at  every  turn. 
Treaties  looking  toward  union  were  signed  in  1894  and 
1895  between  Honduras  and  each  of  the  other  republics 
except  Costa  Rica.  On  June  20,  1895,  Honduras, 
Nicaragua,  and  Salvador  decreed  the  creation  of  The 
Greater  Republic  of  Central  America,  but  Guatemala  and 
Costa  Rica  remained  refractory,  and  nothing  came  of  the 
proposed  union.  Again,  in  1902,  1906  and  1907,  con- 
ferences were  held,  partly  at  the  instigation  of  the  United 
States,  treaties  of  peace  and  friendship  were  once  more 
signed,  a Central  American  Court  of  Justice,  a Central 
American  Bureau,  and  a Central  American  Pedagogical 
Institute  were  established,  and  views  were  exchanged  on 
the  amalgamation  of  the  five  republics  into  a single  State. 
Finally,  in  1917,  the  president  of  Honduras  convoked  an- 
other conference,  and  high  hopes  were  entertained  for  the 
success  of  unification,  but  conditions  in  the  world  at  large 
during  the  European  War  proved  unfavorable,  and  the 
idea  of  union  was  again  allowed  to  slumber  until  the 
present  year. 

To  the  unprejudiced  observer,  the  historical  record  must 
seem  the  darkest  of  omens  for  the  new  Federation  of  Cen- 
tral America.  If,  after  so  many  different  attempts,  noth- 
ing tangible  has  resulted,  what  prospects  are  there  that 
the  year  1921  will  change  what  may  be  regarded  as  settled 
habits  of  separatism? 

Boundary  conflicts  still  trouble  the  tranquillity  of  several 
of  the  republics:  economic  difficulties  still  exist:  the  polit- 
ical machinery  within  each  state  is  what  it  has  always 
been : and  the  spirit  of  individual  nationalism  is,  after  a 
hundred  years,  a much  more  formidable  obstacle  to  federa- 
tion than  it  was  at  any  time  during  the  first  half  of  the 


International  Rapprochement  177 

nineteenth  century,  when  so  many  attempts  at  union  were 
made. 

Prophecies  of  political  and  social  changes  made  far  in 
advance  of  the  predicted  happening  are,  of  course,  extra 
hazardous : and  conditions  to-day  in  many  parts  of  the 
globe  are  such  as  have  discredited  numberless  prophets 
who  enjoyed  a good  reputation  for  clairvoyance  in  their 
day.  Yet  a prophet  who  should  say  that  the  Federation 
of  Central  America  will  not  be  an  accomplished  fact  until 
a tremendous  exterior  calamity,  such  as  attack  or  intoler- 
able oppression  by  a foreign  power,  or  the  rise  of  a “man 
of  destiny”  capable  of  forcing  cohesion  for  a long  period 
welds  the  five  republics  together  would  at  least  have  history 
and  psychology  on  his  side. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  Latin 
America,  after  shaking  oft  the  fetters  which  bound  it  to 
Spain,  gave  itself  over  to  a particularistic  development 
detrimental  to  its  latent  power  as  a homogeneous  section 
of  the  globe.  It  missed  that  larger  unity  which  has  placed 
the  United  States  in  the  vanguard  of  nations.  At  that 
time,  Latin  America  recked  little  of  solid  plans  for  the 
future,  for  it  felt  safe  from  aggression,  thanks  to  the 
Monroe  Doctrine,  and  was  unconscious  of  its  own  pos- 
sibilities. 

To-day,  at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century,  Latin 
America  realizes  that  it  has  a future  before  it,  and  is  try- 
ing, by  all  the  means  of  modern  rapprochement,  to  work 
back  to  the  homogeneity  which  it  carelessly  cast  aside  in 
its  first  flush  of  strength  after  its  victory  over  Spain.  The 
map  of  its  international  relations  has  been  completely  re- 
made in  the  course  of  one  hundred  years,  and  forces  within 
itself,  as  well  as  beyond  its  boundaries,  which  it  considered 
unimportant  at  the  moment  of  independence,  are  now  the 
forces  which  are  molding  its  policies  and  its  sentiments. 


PART  II 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  GROWTH  OF  NATIONALISM 

Any  study  of  the  Latin  American  countries  which,  like 
the  present  one,  surveys  the  entire  region  from  the  Rio 
Grande  del  Norte  to  Cape  Horn  and  includes  the  words 
“Latin  America”  in  its  title,  irremediably  contributes  to 
the  perpetuation  of  a false  and  harmful  conception  of  the 
status  of  the  individual  republics. 

The  use  of  any  other  term  as  general  as  this,  such  as 
“Hispanic  America,”  advocated  for  many  years  by  Pro- 
fessor Aurelio  M.  Espinosa  and  Don  Juan  C.  Cebrian  with 
a wealth  of  excellent  reasoning  and  recently  adopted  by 
the  Second  Spanish-American  Congress  of  History  and 
Geography  at  Seville,  has  the  same  effect.  It  enforces  the 
impression  of  a large  Latin  American  unity  and  minimizes 
the  existence  and  the  rapid  growth  of  an  individual 
national  consciousness  in  each  Latin  American  nation. 

‘ ‘ What ! ’ ’ the  casual  reader  may  exclaim.  ‘ ‘ Do  you 
mean  to  say  that  there  are  nineteen  distinct  nationalities 
of  Hispanic  speech  on  our  hemisphere?  This  is  confusion 
worse  confounded  than  in  Europe!” 

Unfortunately,  the  fact  cannot  be  denied.  Separate 
nationalism  constitutes  to-day  the  most  significant  and  in- 
teresting transformation  in  the  political,  social,  and  cul- 
tural ideals  of  Latin  America,  and  those  ideals  are  largely 
conditioned  on  the  rapidity  or  slowness  with  which  the 
national  consciousness  takes  concrete  form  in  the  various 
countries.  Republics  there  are,  like  Argentina,  Chile,  and 
Brazil,  which  must  be  reckoned  full-fledged  nations  by  all 
the  criteria  applied  to  such  European  countries  as  Italy, 
Spain,  and  France:  and  the  rest  can  not  be  refused  the 

178 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


179 


dignity  of  nationality  any  more  than  can  Sweden,  Norway 
and  Denmark. 

It  is  necessary  to  an  understanding  of  Latin  America 
to  bear  this  circumstance  in  mind,  for  “Latin  America” 
will,  as  the  result  of  force  of  habit,  continue  indefinitely 
to  serve  as  a group  name  and  consequently  to  paint  in 
our  imagination  with  a uniform  color  even  republics  so 
divergent  in  every  way  as  Argentina  and  Nicaragua  or 
Chile  and  Brazil. 

Not  that  the  phrase  “Latin  America”  fails  entirely  to 
serve  useful  purposes.  It  has  undoubtedly  the  same  prac- 
tical advantages  as  the  term  “the  Orient.”  It  classes  to- 
gether peoples  having  originally  an  identical  or  nearly 
identical  historical  and  social  background  and  a great 
similarity  in  tempei’ament  and  aspirations.  It  also  carries 
on  the  thought  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  some  of  the 
leaders  in  the  struggle  for  independence  that  all  the  newly 
liberated  colonies  would  ultimately  take  the  coherent  form 
of  a single  confederation. 

But,  as  has  already  been  intimated,  the  various  projects 
for  confederation  have  come  no  nearer  fruition  after  a 
hundred  years  than  the  Abbe  de  Saint-Pierre’s  Pro  jet  de 
paix  perpetuclle,  proposed  before  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  or  the  League  of  Nations,  though  none 
of  these  humanitarian  plans  can  yet  be  said  to  have  suffered 
final  failure.  The  project  for  perpetual  peace  and  the 
League  of  Nations  figure  at  the  present  moment  among  the 
most  vital  topics  under  general  discussion : and  the  Federa- 
tion of  the  Central  American  Republics  appears  actually 
to  give  substance  to  the  hopes  of  many  advocates  of  Latin 
American  union.  It  is,  nevertheless,  fairly  evident  over 
Latin  America  as  a whole,  and  even  in  Central  America 
itself,  that  the  idea  of  political  confederation  represents 
to-day  a poetic  longing  rather  than  a feasible  programme, 
that  it  is  opposed  to  the  genuine  historical  evolution  of 
the  Latin  American  republics,  and  that  it  has  almost  every- 
where been  supplanted  by  the  more  modern  and  less  vision- 
ary desire  for  inter-American  rapprochement  of  an  eco- 
nomic and  social  character. 


180 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


SEPARATISTS  TENDENCIES 

For  the  main  current  of  Latin  American  thought  has, 
ever  since  the  days  of  independence,  been  swinging  stead- 
fastly and  inexorably  in  the  direction  of  separate  and 
local  nationality.  Each  republic  aspires  to  the  status  of 
distinct,  individual  nationality:  and  few  practical  states- 
men of  Latin  America,  however  much  in  sympathy  they 
may  be  with  the  magnanimous  notion  of  a united  Latin 
America,  allow  the  broader  and,  perhaps,  more  altruistic 
sentiment  to  interfere  with  their  activities  in  behalf  of 
the  particular  country  in  which  they  were  born  or  have 
taken  up  residence. 

All  the  agencies,  in  fact,  instrumental  to  the  creation 
of  sectional  patriotism  have  been  invoked  in  each  of  the 
republics,  and  a national  consciousness  encouraged  by  both 
natural  and  artificial  means.  The  degree  of  success  attained 
in  this  particularistic  movement  has  varied  in  the  different 
countries,  due  to  racial,  political,  social,  geographical,  and 
educational  causes:  but  that  each  republic  is  intent  on 
instilling  a fervid  nationalistic  enthusiasm  in  its  residents, 
and  especially  in  its  children,  becomes  more  evident  as 
Latin  America  widens  its  interest  in  world  affairs  and 
emerges  from  the  isolation  to  which  the  colonial  system 
and  the  dearth  of  communications  constrained  it.  Isolation 
in  itself,  it  is  true,  had  much  to  do  with  creating  sectional 
patriotism  through  the  distrust  of  outsiders  engendered 
by  racial,  social,  and  intellectual  inbreeding:  but  the  re- 
moval of  isolation  is  having  precisely  the  same  effect  in 
exalting  sectionalism  at  the  expense  of  foreign  intrusions 
or  in  opposition  to  surrounding  nations. 

In  the  veins  of  no  human  being  [recites  the  Argentine  school- 
boy in  his  catechism]  does  there  flow  more  generous  blood 
than  in  our  own ; in  the  annals  of  the  world  the  origin  of  no 
nationality  is  more  resplendent  with  a more  brilliant  aureole 
than  that  which  encircles  the  brow  of  the  Argentine  Republic. 
I am  proud  of  my  origin,  of  my  race,  of  my  country. 

This  may  sound  dangerously  like  chauvinism:  but  it  is 
merely  the  primitive  chauvinism  which  underlies  all 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


181 


patriotism  taught  as  a matter  of  faith.  The  first  patriotic 
teachings  in  all  new  countries  have  been  of  the  same  tenor, 
above  all  when,  as  in  the  Americas,  the  necessity  of  fusing 
different  races  and  different  civilizations  has  been 
imperative. 

The  chances  that  Latin  America  would  early  develop 
high  sectional  feeling  have  been  especially  strong  in  view 
of  the  origin  of  the  colonizers  and  the  existence  of  estab- 
lished native  races  in  various  parts  of  the  Latin  American 
territories. 

The  settlement  of  most  of  the  present  republics  by  the 
Spaniards  and  of  Brazil  by  the  Portuguese  immediately 
created  a division  more  effective  than  chains  of  mountains 
or  mighty  rivers.  The  reasons  which  have  kept  Spain 
and  Portugal  separate  kingdoms  except  when  artificially 
united,  as  under  Philip  II  of  Spain,  by  force,  obtain  in 
the  New  World.  The  sense  of  individual  national  integrity 
has  in  the  process  of  time  acquired  a strength  which  may 
be  regarded  as  permanent. 

The  Portuguese  of  Brazil  would  scarcely  be  likely  to 
brook  Spanish  domination,  and  the  Spanish-speaking  popu- 
lation of  all  the  republics  on  which  Brazil  has  frontiers — 
Ecuador  and  Chile  being  the  only  two  republics  of  South 
America  which  Brazil  does  not  touch — would  be  as  little 
likely  to  tolerate  Brazilian  rule.  The  difference  in  lan- 
guage, though  not  linguistically  great,  is  more  than  suffi- 
cient, because  of  the  traditions  and  sentiments  behind  each, 
to  act  as  a barrier  against  a sympathetic  common  under- 
standing. Indeed,  the  realization  of  the  superficial 
similarity  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese,  together  with  a 
knowledge  of  their  intimate  dissimilarities,  militates  more 
powerfully  against  the  conception  of  either  as  an  equivalent 
for  the  other  than  if  they  were  frankly  antipodean.  The 
Spaniard  or  the  Portuguese  is  more  acutely  sensitive  to  the 
garbling  of  his  language  by  his  nearest  neighbor  and  kins- 
man than  to  its  manhandling  by  an  Englishman  or  a 
Frenchman.  Other  racial  and  social  feelings  tend  to  accen- 
tuate rather  than  to  diminish  the  disparity  between  the 
Spanish-American  and  the  Portuguese-American  nations, 


182 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


and  Dr.  Manoel  de  Oliveira  Lima’s  acknowledgement, 
somewhat  regretfully  made,  to  the  effect  that  “The  filiation 
and  evolution  of  Portuguese  America  are  separate  from 
those  of  Spanish  America,  not  infrequently,  nay  frequently 
rather  was  this  evolution  hostile  to  that  of  Spanish 
America,”  may  be  accepted  as  very  close  to  the  truth. 

Brazil  remained  an  empire  while  Spanish  America  was 
fighting  for  its  freedom,  and  did  not  declare  its  inde- 
pendence until  1889.  The  Spanish-American  heroes  are 
not  its  heroes,  the  Spanish-American  struggles,  which  are 
being  elevated  to  the  dignity  of  Titanic  combats,  were  not 
its  struggles,  the  Spanish  conquist adores  were  not  its  fore- 
bears, the  Spanish-American  social  and  political  festivals 
and  celebrations  are  not  its  great  dates,  Spanish  and 
Spanish-American  literature  is  not  its  literature,  and 
Spanish-American  political  friends  and  allies  are  not  its 
most  cherished  friends  and  allies,  Brazil  having  ever  in- 
clined to  take  lessons  from  the  United  States,  whereas  the 
Spanish-American  countries  have  most  frequently  sought 
counsel  from  European  governments. 

The  converse  of  all  this,  of  course,  holds  true  for  Spanish 
America. 

BRAZIL  AS  A DISTINCT  NATION 

Whatever  tests  of  nationality  may  be  applied  to  it,  and 
in  spite  of  many  essential  similarities,  Brazil  cannot  help 
appearing  even  to-day,  when  confronted  with  the  rest  of 
Latin  America,  as  a clearcut  nation.  Its  geographical  posi- 
tion and  immense  size  will  probably  always  be  a prolific 
source  of  fear  and  agitation  on  the  part  of  the  bordering 
Spanish-American  republics,  and  its  strenuous  endeavors 
to  instill  the  same  fervent  patriotism  which  is  rife  in  Argen- 
tina and  Chile  will  widen  the  social  breach  already  so 
distinctly  marked.  The  Brazilian  child,  like  the  Argentine 
child,  has  been  taught  to  regard  his  fatherland  as  the 
greatest  and  the  best  country  in  the  world,  and  the  much 
quoted  anecdote  about  the  diminutive  Italian  immigrant 
of  Buenos  Aires,  whose  apologetic  answer  to  the  charge  of 
having  been  born  in  Genoa  was,  “But  I was  so  little,” 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


183 


has  been  used  also  to  illustrate  the  rapidity  with  which 
Brazil  inspires  its  population  with  a stanch  and  lively 
Brazilianism. 

Since  Brazil  is  almost  certain  to  occupy  more  and  more 
as  time  goes  on  the  position  of  a distant  member  of  the 
Latin  American  family  in  relation  to  its  Spanish  neighbors, 
its  diplomatic  role  naturally  consists  in  strengthening  the 
bonds  of  commercial  and  intellectual  friendship,  rather 
than  in  attempting  to  rely  on  the  sympathy  of  blood— 
which,  moreover,  as  political  history  amply  proves,  is  often 
little  thicker  than  water. 

Thus  far,  Brazil,  like  the  United  States  and  Canada, 
has  had  to  keep  no  army  on  any  of  its  frontiers,  and  has 
solved  most  of  its  South  American  problems  by  diplomatic 
means.  In  spite  of  its  opportunities  for  promoting  fric- 
tion, it  has  exhibited  a thoroughly  generous  spirit  in  arbi- 
trating questions  in  dispute  and  in  seeking  to  mediate  in 
controversies  between  Spanish  America  and  foreign  powers. 
Its  leaders,  like  Dr.  Ruy  Barbosa,  have  been  large-minded 
patriots,  conscious  that  the  well-being  of  Brazil  depends 
on  the  well-being  of  South  America;  and  their  example 
cannot  fail  to  serve  as  a wholesome  inspiration  to  the  grow- 
ing generations.  Since  the  European  War,  and  as  an  out- 
growth of  the  war,  those  leaders  and  the  educational 
authorities  of  Brazil  have  become  convinced  of  the  neces- 
sity of  assimilating  more  completely  the  foreign  elements 
of  the  population,  and  have  made  added  efforts,  by  pro- 
hibiting the  teaching  of  foreign  languages  in  the  public 
elementary  schools  and  emphasizing  patriotism  in  the 
schools  and  in  text-books,  to  create  what  may  be  called 
a 100  per  cent  Brazilianism.  That  they  will  guard  against 
the  inculcation  of  an  aggressive  nationalism  cannot  be 
questioned. 

Already  many  prophets  in  the  Spanish-American 
republics  see  in  the  future  an  acutely  nationalistic,  imperial- 
istic Brazil  and  Argentina  at  grips  for  the  control  of  the 
entire  South  American  continent:  and  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  the  actual  “powers”  in  Latin  America,  because  of 
the  anxiety  of  each  for  a homogeneous  people  with  a blind 


184  The  Growth  of  Nationalism 

and  intransigent  confidence  in  its  destiny,  are  running 
great  risks  in  the  grandiose  patriotism  which  they  are 
erecting  into  a creed  admitting  of  no  discussion. 

The  case  of  Spanish-American  nationalities  is  not  quite 
as  simple  and  definite  as  that  of  Brazilian  nationality. 
Cuba  and  Argentina,  Costa  Rica  and  Chile,  Mexico  and 
Bolivia  have  the  same  European  political  and  social 
antecedents  and  have  never  lost  the  sense  of  a common 
relationship.  They  were  all  subjected  to  the  same  Spanish 
experience,  passed  through  practically  the  same  struggles 
in  securing  independence,  and  were,  most  of  them,  until 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  dominated  by  the 
same  type  of  dictator,  caudillo,  or  cacique.  Apparently  it 
should  be  the  chief  ambition  of  each  to  amalgamate  with 
its  sister-republics  from  whom  mountains,  rivers  and 
oceans,  now  practically  meaningless  or  soon  to  be  so,  and 
the  downfall  of  the  Spanish  colonial  system  separated  it 
less  than  one  hundred  years  ago. 

If  the  longing  for  solidarity  has  not  always  actuated 
the  Latin  American  republics,  why  the  resurrection  of 
Bolivar’s  idea  in  the  Congress  at  Lima  in  1847-8,  in  the 
Continental  Treaty  signed  by  Chile,  Peru,  and  Ecuador 
at  Santiago,  September  15,  1856,  and  a similar  treaty  signed 
in  November  of  the  same  year  by  Mexico,  Guatemala,  Costa 
Rica,  Salvador,  New  Granada  (Colombia),  Venezuela,  and 
Peru,  and  in  the  second  Congress  at  Lima  in  1864-5,  at 
which  Chile,  Venezuela,  Peru,  Ecuador,  Colombia,  Bolivia, 
Salvador,  and  Argentina  were  represented?  Why  have 
Eugenio  Maria  de  Hostos  and  Jose  de  Diego,  of  Porto 
Rico,  ardently  advocated  a Confederation  of  the  Antilles? 
Why,  too,  has  that  distinguished  Latin  American  publicist, 
Senor  F.  Garcia  Calderon,  urged  as  late  as  1911  the  estab- 
lishment of  five  regional  federations,  namely,  the  Confed- 
eration of  La  Plata  (Argentina,  Uruguay,  and  Paraguay), 
the  Confederation  of  the  Pacific  (Peru,  Bolivia,  and  Chile), 
Greater  Colombia  (Colombia,  Ecuador,  and  Venezuela), 
the  Confederation  of  Central  America,  and  the  Confed- 
eration of  the  Antilles?  Why,  finally,  have  the  Central 


The  Growth  oi  Nationalism 


185 


American  republics  cast  the  die  and  formed  the  Federation 
of  Latin  America  in  this  year  of  grace,  1921? 

Is  the  desire  for  the  complete  or  partial  union  of  the 
Latin  American  republics  genuine  and  feasible,  or  is  it 
only  a beautiful  aspiration  impossible  of  realization 
because  of  the  depth  to  which  individual,  separatist 
nationality  has  struck  its  roots? 

HISTORICAL  REASONS  FOR  LACK  OF  SOLIDARITY  AMONG  THE 
SPANISH  COUNTRIES  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 

The  only  guides  for  a judicious  appreciation  of  the  prob- 
lem of  nationality  in  general,  as  well  as  of  the  problem 
of  solidarity,  are  to  be  found  in  the  past  of  the  different 
republics  and  in  the  history  of  other  colonies  existing  at 
a distance  from  the  mother-country. 

An  examination  of  the  latter  point  would  probably  force 
us  to  draw  the  conclusion  that  distant  colonies  of  con- 
siderable size  inevitably  result  in  distinct  nationalities. 
The  Roman  colonies  became  separate  nations,  especially 
where  natural  barriers  divided  the  territory,  and  the 
English  colonies  of  to-day — Canada,  Australia,  New 
Zealand,  and  South  Africa — are,  in  the  words  of  Mr. 
Richard  Jebb,  “travelling  the  same  road — the  road  from 
the  colonial  to  the  national  status.  ’ ’ That,  however,  a huge 
colonial  territory  need  not  perforce  break  up  into  a num- 
ber of  nationalities  or  nations  is  evident  from  the  career 
of  the  United  States  and  Brazil.  It  is  quite  possible  that, 
if  Bolivar’s  Congress  of  Panama  had  been  successful,  Latin 
America  might  now  consist  of  only  a few  national  divisions 
or  even  of  only  one  great  nation  with  a single  nationality. 
Yet  the  presumption  was,  from  the  very  beginning,  be- 
cause of  the  characteristics  of  the  colonizers  and  the  natives 
and  because  of  the  topography  of  Latin  America,  that  a 
unified  Latin  America  could  not  maintain  itself. 

The  physical,  climatic,  and  racial  reasons  for  some  degree 
of  differentation  have  been  plainly  shown  by  Viscount 
Bryce  in  his  South  America,  which  is  the  most  thoughtful 
and  sanely  philosophical  book  thus  far  written  on  the  polit- 
ical and  social  evolution  of  Latin  America,  though,  perhaps, 


186 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


as  critics  have  intimated,  not  at  all  equal  to  his  American 
Commonwealth.  Cuba  and  Santo  Domingo,  as  insular  terri- 
tory, Chile,  Argentina,  and  Peru,  through  lofty  mountain 
ranges  almost  impassable  in  the  days  preceding  the  rail- 
road and  the  telegraph,  and  Mexico  as  a portion  of  an- 
other continent,  were  predestined  to  a separate  develop- 
ment and  to  a separate  national  existence.  The  establish- 
ment of  viceroyalties  and  captaincies  general  by  the 
Spanish  Government,  too,  contributed  to  the  growth  of 
political  divisions  which  often  corresponded  to  the  natural 
topographical  divisions.  Climate  and  distance,  in  all  likeli- 
hood, were  extremely  influential  in  partitioning  the  terri- 
tory and  people  of  the  temperate  zone  from  the  territory 
and  people  of  the  tropical  and  subtropical  zones.  The 
variable  progress  of  the  original  races  worked  against 
amalgamation  on  a large  scale,  the  Aztecs  and  the  subjects 
of  the  Incas  proving  refractory  to  the  immediate  imposi- 
tion of  an  all-Spanish  culture,  though  capable  of  absorb- 
ing such  culture,  the  warlike  Ai’aucanians  of  Chile  proving 
violently  opposed  to  it,  and  the  scattered  uncivilized  tribes 
proving  neither  susceptible  to  that  style  of  culture  nor 
qualified  to  evolve  any  other  from  their  inner  conscious- 
ness. 

The  practical  task  of  dealing  with  these  divergent  ethnic 
groups  was  a vital  factor  in  the  creation  of  separate 
nationalities  from  the  very  start.  The  resultant  nationali- 
ties might,  indeed,  have  been  broader,  if  the  Spaniards 
had  wished  to  make  them  so,  but  they  could  have  been 
welded  into  a single  unit  only  through  the  implanting  of 
a much  more  extensive  administrative  system  than  Spain 
was  able  to  furnish  for  its  colonies. 

Moreover,  the  Spanish  rulers  were  utterly  impervious  to 
any  notion  of  founding  a coherent  empire.  Administrative 
tracts  were  parceled  out  from  time  to  time  and  then 
neglected,  in  so  far  as  the  Home  Office  was  concerned, 
provided  that  the  Crown  imposts  were  paid  in  and  the 
monopoly  of  trade  retained.  Spain  was  never,  in  reality, 
an  empire  builder.  It  never  succeeded  in  arousing  the 
imperial  cooperation  and  loyalty  which  England  has  con- 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


187 


sidered  its  first  duty  to  inspire.  Therein  lies  the  difference 
in  unity  between  Spanish  America  and  Portuguese 
America.  Brazil  became,  before  it  was  too  late,  the  Por- 
tuguese Empire  and  even,  during  the  Napoleonic  campaign, 
the  shelter  and  the  residence  of  the  Court  of  Portugal. 
The  presence  of  the  Portuguese  king  and  of  the  princes 
of  the  House  of  Braganza  brought  centralization  to  Brazil, 
and  centralization  broke  down  separatist  barriers  which 
might  have  become  permanent.  To  be  sure,  it  later  con- 
verted the  Empire  into  a republic,  but  into  a republic  of 
united  states. 

No  Spanish  king  or  princes  of  the  royal  blood  came  to 
Spanish  America  to  act  as  a focus  for  unified  patriotic 
sentiment.  No  common  ideal,  except  that  of  religion,  was 
set  up  for  Spanish  immigrants  and  native  Indians  to 
worship.  On  the  contrary,  the  naturally  centrifugal  bent 
of  the  Spaniards  from  the  different  provinces  of  the  mother- 
country  was  allowed  full  sway. 

The  Spaniard,  as  has  been  demonstrated  clearly  in  the 
history  of  the  Spanish  nation,  rarely  harbors  a truly 
national  loyalty.  Napoleon  may  drive  the  inhabitants  of 
Madrid  to  such  desperation  that  his  grenadiers  cannot  any 
better  withstand  the  rabble  armed  with  homely  weapons 
quickly  caught  up  than  the  trained  British  soldiers  could 
resist  the  onset  of  the  raw  farmers  of  Lexington  and  Con- 
cord : but  the  surrounding  provinces  come  to  the  assistance 
of  their  hard-pressed  compatriots  chiefly  to  protect  them- 
selves or  as  a special  favor,  and  not  through  the  sense  of 
duty  born  of  national  solidarity.  Spain  has  rarely  risen 
as  a whole  country  to  oppose  invaders  or  to  conquer  new 
territory.  Each  province  has  fought  the  enemy  as  a 
separate  unit,  and  has  expelled  him  into  the  adjacent 
province,  which  has  in  turn  passed  him  on,  to  be  dealt  with 
as  seemed  best  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  next  district : and 
precisely  that  method  was  followed  in  Latin  America  in 
the  eviction  of  Spain.  The  Conquerors  never  recruited  a 
national  army.  They  gathered  together  small  bands  and 
carried  on  their  exploration  and  conquest  separately, 
though  sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of  Cortes,  Pizarro,  Balboa, 


188 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


and  Hernando  de  Soto,  learning  from  the  trials  of  one 
another  and  exchanging  counsel. 

The  effect  on  the  early  political  structure  of  the  New 
World  was  inevitable.  The  Pizarros  lorded  it  over  Peru, 
and  molded  the  early  political  organization  of  the  con- 
quered country.  Cortes  and  Valdivia  left  the  impress  of 
their  personality  on  the  political  structure  of  Mexico  and 
Chile.  The  communistic  experiments  of  the  Jesuits  in 
Paraguay  beginning  in  the  later  years  of  the  sixteenth 
century  foreshadowed  the  communistic  dictatorship  of  Dr. 
Francia,  El  Supremo,  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  democratic  colonists  of  Argentina — where 
the  democratic  spirit  has,  since  the  foundation  of  the  city 
of  Santa  Maria  de  Buenos  Aires,  been  more  noticeable  than 
elsewhere  in  Latin  America — elected  their  own  governor, 
Arias  de  Saavedra,  in  1591 : and  nothing  was  left  for  the 
Spanish  Crown  but  to  confirm  this  popular  election.  The 
special  flavor  given  at  the  start  to  political  and  social  life 
in  Latin  America  by  groups  of  Spaniards  of  varying  tem- 
perament and  ideals  persists  long  after  those  groups  them- 
selves have  become  extinct. 

The  method  by  which  the  colonies  were  originally  gov- 
erned led  through  easy  steps  to  political  divisions  which 
were  practically  preserved  after  the  victories  of  inde- 
pendence. 

In  colonial  days,  the  principal  territorial  divisions, 
or  viceroyalties,  were  made  up  of  subdivisions  called 
“ audiencias”  or  “presidencies.”  The  viceroyalty  of  New 
Spain  included  all  the  present  countries  of  Spanish  North 
America,  and  the  viceroyalty  of  Peru,  embracing  all  the 
possessions  of  South  America,  was,  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, separated  into  the  viceroyalties  of  Peru  (Peru  and 
Chile),  New  Granada  (Colombia,  Venezuela,  and  Ecuador), 
and  La  Plata  (Argentina,  Bolivia,  Paraguay,  and  Uru- 
guay). The  War  of  Independence  perpetuated,  almost 
without  change,  the  limits  of  the  “ audiencias ” in  the  new 
republics  of  Mexico,  Central  America,  Greater  Colombia, 
Peru,  Bolivia,  Chile,  Paraguay,  and  the  United  Provinces 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


189 


of  La  Plata.  Some  further  subdivision  was  later  made, 
notably  in  Central  America. 

For  the  greater  part  of  their  history,  then,  the  Latin 
American  republics  have  existed  as  territorial  units  with 
established  traditions  and  practices,  which,  while  similar 
in  many  respects,  have  undergone  marked  differentiation. 
The  administration  of  the  Americas,  embodied  in  the 
Council  of  the  Indies  and  the  Casa  de  Contratacion  (House 
of  Trade),  kept  these  units  definitely  in  mind  in  the 
appointment  of  officials  and  in  the  formulation  of  trade 
regulations,  and  consequently  encouraged  the  growth  of 
local  or  departmental  sentiment  as  opposed  to  a feeling 
of  solidarity.  As  “native  sons”  entered  more  fully  into 
the  departmental  life,  the  distinction  between  Mexicans, 
Peruvians,  Chileans,  Argentinians,  Bolivians,  became  so 
sharp  that  the  sense  of  a general  Spanish  nationality  was 
almost  obliterated.  Spaniards  away  from  the  mother- 
country  were  more  likely  than  not  to  transfer  their 
allegiance  to  their  immediate  locality,  in  accordance  with 
their  inveterate  regionalistic  inclinations. 

LATIN  AMERICANS  NOT  TO  BE  CONFUSED  WITH  EUROPEAN 
SPANIARDS 

The  subsequent  history  of  the  Latin  American  countries 
has  strengthened  and  made  more  prominent  their  indi- 
viduality. None  of  them  can  now  be  confused  with  Spain 
nor  with  any  of  the  provinces  of  Spain.  The  Spanish 
Andalusian  and  the  Spanish- American  Cuban,  the  Spanish 
Castilian  and  the  Spanish-American  Costa  Rican,  the 
Spanish  Catalonian  and  the  Spanish-American  Argentinian 
differ  as  much,  and  in  as  many  ways,  as  the  Englishman 
and  the  American  of  the  United  States.  To  deny  the  Latin 
American  republics  a definite  nationality  of  their  own  is 
equivalent  to  denying  the  rise  of  new  species  in  the  social 
organization  of  mankind. 

To  the  Englishman,  the  American  is  sui  generis,  in  spite 
of  a practical  identity  in  language  and  literature.  The 
Cuban,  the  Costa  Rican,  the  Argentinian,  the  Peruvian, 
the  Mexican  are  likewise  ‘ ‘ outsiders  ’ ’ to  Spaniards,  though 


190 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


the  Spaniards  who  have  not  traveled  may  be  unable  readily 
to  distinguish  among  them,  just  as  the  sedentary  English- 
man may  be  unable  to  distinguish  among  Australians, 
Canadians,  and  British  South  Africans.  But  the  Costa 
Rican  never  mistakes  a Chilean  for  one  of  his  own  people, 
nor  the  Mexican  a Uruguayan,  nor  the  Colombian  a 
Bolivian — at  least,  after  a few  moments  of  conversation. 

The  question  of  nationality  is  particularly  important 
because  of  our  increased  relations  with  Latin  America  and 
the  necessity  of  understanding  each  nation  by  itself.  It 
is  not  enough  to  classify  Latin  Americans  under  the  gen- 
eric category  of  “Latin  Americans.”  The  attempt  to  do 
so  results  in  friction  and  untold  misconceptions.  Bolivar 
means  little  to  Brazilians,  Dom  Pedro  II  means  nothing 
to  Mexicans,  and  Artigas,  the  national  hero  of  Uruguay, 
is  scarcely  even  a name  to  Guatemalans.  Hard  though  it 
may  be  for  the  American  traveler  or  businessman,  he 
must,  if  he  wishes  to  be  on  intimate  terms  with  the  people 
of  the  several  republics,  know  what  are  the  national  ambi- 
tions, the  national  episodes,  the  national  conflicts,  and  who, 
the  national  heroes  and  personages.  The  mention  of 
Captain  Prat,  of  the  Chilean  man-of-war  Esmeralda,  is 
no  more  grateful  to  Peruvian  ears  than  the  mention  of 
John  Paul  Jones  to  English  ears. 

The  definition  and  the  conclusions  of  Viscount  Bryce 
with  respect  to  Latin  American  nationality  may  be  accepted 
without  reserve. 

It  is  dangerous  to  offer  a definition  which  may  not  cor- 
respond to  usage,  for  usage  is  the  only  true  master  and  inter- 
preter of  words;  and  usage  is  in  this  case  loose  and  varying. 
But  it  might  not  be  far  wide  of  the  mark  to  say  that  while 
a nationality  is  a population  held  together  by  certain  ties, 
as,  for  example,  language  and  literature,  ideas,  customs,  and 
traditions,  in  such  wise  as  to  feel  itself  a coherent  unity, 
distinct  from  other  populations  similarly  held  together  by  like 
ties  of  their  own,  a Nation  is  a nationality,  or  a subdivision 
of  a nationality,  which  has  organized  itself  into  a political 
body,  either  independent  or  desiring  to  be  independent.  This 
description  would  encounter  some  doubtful  cases.  . . . With- 
out multiplying  doubtful  cases,  however,  the  description  pre- 
sented above,  and  any  description  which  tries  to  represent 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


191 


current  usage,  would  recognize  the  fact,  that  wherever  a com- 
munity has  both  political  independence  and  a distinctive  char- 
acter recognizable  in  its  numbers,  as  well  as  in  the  whole  body, 
we  call  it  a nation.  Applying  such  a test  to  the  Spanish- 
American  republics,  some  of  them,  such  as  Mexico,  Argentina, 
and  Chile,  are  undeniably  nations,  while  even  some  at  least 
of  the  smaller,  such  as  Cuba,  Ecuador,  and  Paraguay,  have 
attained  sufficient  individuality  and  consciousness  of  corporate 
unity  to  make  them  feel  and  act  together  and  desire  to  pre- 
serve their  independence.  If  they  maintain  that  consciousness 
and  that  independence  for  another  fifty  years,  their  nation- 
hood will  be  indisputable.  The  bud  is  opening,  even  if  the 
form  and  colors  of  the  petals  are  not  yet  fully  visible. 

This  sound  conclusion  Viscount  Bryce  qualifies  slightly 
in  a footnote:  “Whether  the  same  can  be  said  of  some 

of  the  Central  American  republics  may  be  doubted.”  The 
present  organization  of  the  Central  America  Union  appears 
to  bear  out  Mr.  Bryce’s  qualifying  statement:  but  much 
depends  on  the  outcome  of  the  Union,  and  final  judgment 
had,  perhaps,  better  be  postponed. 

Probably  nobody  to-day  will  refuse  to  admit  the  larger 
Latin  American  republics  into  the  concert  of  nations. 
Their  diplomatic  standing  is  of  the  first  class,  their  deal- 
ings with  foreign  countries  are  on  the  plane  of  political 
equality,  the  treaties  negotiated  by  them  have  complete 
international  validity,  and  their  standing  in  the  League 
of  Nations  has  not  been  exposed  to  the  uncertainties  which 
have  hedged  about  some  of  the  dubious  “nations”  of  the 
rest  of  the  world.  Argentina,  Brazil,  and  Chile  have,  in 
fact,  through  their  delegations,  taken  a leading  part  in 
the  discussions  of  that  Assembly,  and  have  shown  them- 
selves to  be  not  a whit  behind  the  United  States,  Great 
Britain,  or  France  in  their  grasp  of  international  problems. 

It  is  significant  that  the  League’s  committee  on  the 
admission  of  new  members  was  composed  of  members  of 
the  Chilean  and  Uruguayan  delegations,  that  the  vice- 
chairman  of  the  committee  having  to  do  with  mandates, 
armaments,  and  the  economic  weapon  was  a Cuban  rep- 
resentative, that  the  vice-chairman  of  the  committee  on 
finance  was  Dr.  Restrepo  of  Colombia,  and  that  two  of  the 


192 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


six  vice-presidents  of  the  League  were  Senor  Pueyrredon 
of  Argentina  and  Senhor  Octavio  of  Brazil. 

The  status  of  a few  of  the  smaller  republics  may  still 
be  called  into  question,  in  the  opinion  of  some  students. 
Is  Paraguay  a nation,  or  is  it  simply  an  extension  of  Brazil 
on  the  one  side  and  Argentina  on  the  other?  Does  it  exist 
in  a lifelike  manner,  or  does  it  remain  a buffer  state  by 
courtesy  of  its  powerful  neighbors,  who  will  try  to  swallow 
it  up  as  they  tried  to  do  in  one  of  the  most  sanguinary 
wars  (1865-1870)  of  which  there  is  historical  record,  when 
Paraguay,  having  entered  the  conflict  with  1,337,439 
inhabitants,  emerged  independent,  but  reduced  to  a popu- 
lation of  28,746  men  and  106,254  women — a loss  of  90  per 
cent  of  its  total  population?  Is  Cuba  safely  a nation  under 
the  overshadowing  wing  of  the  United  States?  Is  Santo 
Domingo,  or  more  properly,  the  Dominican  Republic,  to 
be  regarded  as  a genuine  nation  when  the  United  States 
can  establish  a supervisory  government  on  its  soil  at  any 
moment?  Are  the  Central  American  republics,  once 
annexed  to  Mexico  by  Iturbide  and  constantly  feeling  the 
pressure  of  foreign  capital  in  their  political  evolution, 
entitled  to  consideration  as  nations? 

In  reality,  the  doubt  thrown  on  the  individual  nationality 
of  some  of  the  smaller  republics  is  purely  academic.  All 
of  them  have  maintained  themselves  as  separate  states  for 
half  a century  or  more,  and  all  of  them  are  thoroughly 
imbued  with  a nationalistic  spirit.  The  formation  of  fed- 
erations of  several  of  the  republics  does  not  signify  the 
surrender  of  national  integrity,  but  only  the  cultivation  of 
friendly  relations  and  uniform  action  in  all  the  problems 
affecting  them  singly  or  as  a whole. 

CHIEF  FACTORS  IN  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  INDIVIDUAL 
NATIONAL  SPIRIT 

The  principal  factors  in  the  growth  of  Latin  American 
nationalism  in  the  past  have  been  the  War  of  Independence, 
the  wars  between  republics,  and  the  rule  of  the  dictators. 
The  principal  factors  at  present  are  the  rise  of  a literature 
of  intense  regionalism,  the  popular  appeal  of  the  press,  the 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


193 


teachings  of  the  public  schools,  the  celebration  of  national 
expositions  and  congresses,  economic  and,  to  a certain  ex- 
tent, political  expansion,  the  progress  of  the  United  States 
southward,  and  the  present-day  doctrine  of  self-determina- 
tion resulting  from  the  European  War.  Each  set  of  causes 
has  been  perfectly  appropriate  to  the  times.  As  in  the 
United  States,  first  wars,  then  education  and  pride  in  na- 
tional advancement  have  united  the  Latin  American  peoples 
into  corporate  bodies  with  a single  mass  consciousness. 

The  story  of  Latin  American  independence  and  the 
events  immediately  following  it  is  one  of  extreme  individ- 
ualism, and  as  such,  highly  conducive  to  the  establishment 
of  separate  states.  Three  leaders  in  different  sections 
shared  the  honors  of  wresting  control  from  Spain, — Itur- 
bide  in  Mexico,  Bolivar  in  the  northern  half  of  Spanish 
America,  and  San  Martin  in  the  southern  half.  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico  remained  Spanish  colonies  until  the  Spanish 
American  war  of  1898,  the  Dominican  Republic,  attached 
to  the  Haitian  Republic  until  1843,  became  an  independent 
state  in  1844 ; and  Brazil,  after  the  bloodless  revolution  of 
1889  ending  in  the  amicable  abdication  of  Dom  Pedro  II, 
— an  emperor  beloved  by  his  people  during  a reign  of 
neary  half  a century,  and  respected  at  home  and  abroad 
for  his  learning  and  his  protection  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
- — began  to  function  as  a federal  republic  in  1891.  The 
Central  American  republics  gained  their  freedom  in  conse- 
quence of  the  Spanish  defeats  in  Mexico  and  South  Amer- 
ica, and  not  as  the  result  of  hard-fought  campaigns,  joined 
their  fortunes  to  those  of  Mexico  for  a brief  space,  bound 
themselves  shortly  afterwards  into  a confederation  called 
the  Provincias  Unidas  del  Centro  de  America  (United 
Provinces  of  Central  America),  and  in  1838  separated  into 
the  five  republics  of  Guatemala,  Honduras,  Salvador, 
Nicaragua,  and  Costa  Rica.  Panama  had  elected  in  1821 
to  cast  its  lot  with  the  newly  created  republic  of  Colombia, 
and  did  not  finally  resume  its  independent  and  individual 
existence  until  1903. 

Unconfined  to  a single  leadership,  the  whole  Spanish- 
American  area  of  South  America  quickly  broke  up  into 


194 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


separate  units  immediately  after  the  initiation  of  the  strug- 
gle for  independence.  Paraguay,  incited  by  the  Argentine 
general,  Belgrano,  threw  off  Spanish  rule  and  placed  itself 
under  the  dictatorship  of  Dr.  Francia,  whom  Carlyle  has 
termed  one  of  the  most  remarkable  characters  in  history. 
Chile  owed  its  freedom  to  the  combined  exertions  of  Ber- 
nardo O’Higgins  and  San  Martin.  Uruguay  was  absorbed 
by  Brazil  in  its  first  attempt  at  independence  from  Spain 
under  Artigas,  but  ultimately  tore  itself  loose  from  Brazil- 
ian domination  with  the  aid  of  Argentina.  The  Confedera- 
tion of  the  North  divided  after  the  death  of  Bolivar  and 
was  partitioned  among  the  lieutenants  of  the  Liberator, 
Venezuela  falling  to  Paez  and  Ecuador  to  Juan  Jose  Flores. 
General  Sucre,  the  right-hand  man  of  Bolivar,  was  chosen  in 
1S26  the  first  president  of  the  republic  of  Bolivia,  created 
by  Bolivar  and  named  after  him.  Colombia  withdrew  from 
the  confederation  the  year  following  Bolivar’s  death.  Peru 
became  the  prize  of  various  military  commanders  who  had 
fought  at  Ayacucho.  Subsequently  (1836-1844)  Peru  and 
Bolivia  were  joined  together  under  Santa  Cruz,  but  the 
union  did  not  endure. 

Yet,  throughout  all  the  vicissitudes  of  rapid  dictator- 
ships, kaleidoscopic  revolutions,  American  intervention  in 
Cuba,  the  Dominican  Republic,  Panama,  Mexico,  and  Nica- 
ragua, and  foreign  propaganda  of  various  kinds,  the  Latin 
American  republics  have  kept  substantially  the  form  given 
to  them  within  the  first  decade  of  independence.  Paraguay 
was  almost  annihilated,  but  not  destroyed.  Peru  was  con- 
quered by  the  military  and  naval  forces  of  Chile,  which 
occupied  Lima  from  1881  to  1884,  but  Chile,  instead  of 
carrying  its  advantage  as  far  as  it  might  have  done,  assisted 
the  distracted  Peruvians  in  reestablishing  their  own  govern- 
ment. Bolivia,  as  has  been  mentioned,  was  temporarily 
assimilated  by  Peru,  but  soon  regained  its  individuality. 
The  countries  which  have  known  the  tramping  of  American 
soldiers  or  marines  on  their  soil  have  lost  no  territory  and 
suffered  no  loss  in  political  organization  through  American 
supervision,  despite  general  alarm,  suspicion,  and  fear,  and 
the  prognostications  of  “friendly”  foreign  observers. 


IGUAZU  FALLS,  WHERE  BRAZIL,  PARAGUAY,  AND  ARGENTINA  MEET. 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


195 


The  possibility  of  aggression,  either  by  outside  powers 
or  by  some  of  the  Latin  American  nations  against  their 
weaker  brethren,  is  much  less  now  than  at  any  period  since 
the  enunciation  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  in  1823. 

The  influence  of  war  on  the  solidification  of  a national 
spirit  is  so  general  and  so  sure  that  special  discussion  of 
it  with  regard  to  Latin  America  would  be  supererogatory. 
Some  few  peoples  in  the  world  there  mav  be  which  have 
risen  above  the  obvious  impetus  given  to  patriotism  by  the 
dangers  of  attack  from  others  or  the  enthusiasm  of  attack 
upon  others,  but  Latin  America  has  not  yet  reached  that 
altruistic  height.  War  and  the  concomitants  of  war  electri- 
fied the  people  of  Buenos  Aires  into  a positive  ardor  of 
nationalism  by  the  double  defeat  of  the  English  invaders 
under  Beresford  and  Whitelock  in  1806,  Paraguay  lost 
nearly  all  its  men  but  grew  in  national  spirit  through  its 
unparalleled  struggle  with  Argentina,  Uruguay,  and  Brazil, 
Cuba  emerged  nationalistic  from  the  final  conflict  with 
Spain,  and  Chile  and  Peru  have  for  a generation  been  filled 
with  a feverish  patriotism  as  a result  of  the  War  of  the 
Pacific  from  1879  to  1883.  The  baptism  of  fire  has  in  many 
instances  aroused  in  Latin  America  a dormant  or  subdued 
sense  of  national  unity. 

LATIN  AMERICAN  DICTATORS  AS  CONTRIBUTORS  TO 
PATRIOTISM 

This  ready  response  to  the  stimuli  of  combat  constituted 
one  of  the  strongest  weapons  of  the  dictators  who  ruled 
the  Latin  American  republics  from  the  period  of  Inde- 
pendence to  1852,  when  the  most  astounding  of  them  all, 
Juan  Manuel  Ortiz  de  Rosas,  of  Argentina,  fled  to  England 
to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  quietly  cultivating 
flowers  near  Southampton.  It  was  always  a simple  matter 
for  a dictator  to  raise  the  standard  of  war  and  the  cry 
of  Fatherland, — though  his  opponent  might  simultaneously 
be  doing  the  same  thing. 

Undoubtedly  the  dictators  as  a rule  pursued  selfish  ends 
and  thirsted  for  the  pomp  and  glory  which  have  encircled 
the  name  of  the  Venezuelan  caudillo,  Guzman-Bianco,  or 


196 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


the  power  for  good  or  ill  which  was  the  guiding  motive  of 
Rosas,  variously  termed  benefactor  and  monster.  But 
given  the  turbulent  epoch  in  which  the  dictatorship  de- 
veloped into  both  an  art  and  a science,  it  is  difficult  to  see 
how  even  well-intentioned  leaders,  like  Ramon  Castilla  of 
Peru  or  Juan  Antonio  Lavalleja  of  Uruguay,  could  refrain 
from  making  hasty  and,  perhaps,  disastrous  decisions  or 
avoid  the  appearance  of  tyranny.  In  a true  democracy, 
many  of  them,  men  of  fine  intellect  and  splendid  energy, 
would  have  earned  the  title  of  beneficent  centralizers,  car- 
rying through  to  a successful  conclusion  admirable  projects 
of  public  improvement.  History,  as  it  is  usually  written, 
has  been  conspicuously  unfair  to  them  as  a class. 

The  chief  legacy  which  the  dictators  left  to  their  sev- 
eral countries  was  an  intense  and  aggressive  spirit  of  na- 
tionalism. An  unprogressive  and  disunited  public  saw 
them  accomplish  what  may  well  be  termed  wonders  in  ad- 
ministration, in  economic  development,  in  educational 
progress,  if  the  comparatively  short  period  of  their  terms 
and  the  condition  of  the  newly  founded  republics  are  taken 
into  account.  Guzman-Bianco  in  Venezuela  did  much  for 
education,  reformed  the  civil  and  penal  codes,  opposed  the 
plots  of  foreign  governments,  stimulated  industry,  pro- 
tected the  arts,  and  upheld  the  rights  of  the  Venezuelan 
nation;  Lavalleja  of  Uruguay,  with  his  band  of  “Thirty- 
Three”  and  the  cry  “Liberty  or  Death,”  stood  for  “an 
orderly  independence,  a disciplined  liberty”;  and  Rosas, 
now  a bloodthirsty  tyrant,  now  a benevolent  despot,  built 
up  Argentina,  introduced  practical  methods  in  industry, 
developed  a constructive  financial  policy,  and  gave  the 
common  people,  especially  his  favorite  gauchos,  of  whom 
he  was  one,  a political  and  social  equality  with  the  upper 
classes. 

The  work  of  Rosas  [comments  Senor  F.  Garda  Calderon] 
was  profoundly  Argentine.  It  presents  a triple  civilising  sig- 
nificance; it  overcame  the  partial  caudillos,  conquered  the  wilder- 
ness, and  founded  an  organic  confederation.  Traditional,  for 
it  respected  ancient  liberties;  opportunist,  adapted  at  the  critical 
moment  of  national  evolution,  for  it  prevented  the  disaggrega- 
tion of  the  provinces  by  the  labours  of  unconscious  leaders.  Like 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


197 


Porfirio  Diaz,  Rosas  destroyed  the  provincial  caudillos;  he  was 
a Machiavelli  of  the  pampas.  . . . “Rosas  is  the  Louis  XI.  of 
Argentine  history,”  said  Ernesto  Quesada,  with  justice;  for  over 
the  heads  of  the  feudal  barons  he  raised  a magnificent  Unitarian 
structure;  he  was  the  creator  of  Argentine  nationality. 

As  much  may  be  urged  for  many  another  dictator.  Most 
of  them,  for  the  very  reason  that  they  wished  to  represent 
themselves  as  saviors  of  their  countries,  gave  an  epic  tone 
to  their  opposition  to  foreign  interests  and  by  unceasing 
iteration  drummed  into  the  heads  of  their  ‘ ‘ fellow-citizens  ’ ’ 
a national  consciousness  of  which  they  were  the  highest 
representatives.  The  process  was  artificial  in  the  extreme 
and  based  on  principles  of  elementary  psychology,  but  it 
served  its  purpose  and  lost  none  of  its  effectiveness  simply 
because  it  was  artificial.  And  unquestionably  a few  of  them 
were  sincere  patriots  who  worked  against  foreign  perils 
not  because  they  risked  nothing  more  than  the  prosperity 
and  the  lives  of  their  countrymen,  but  because  they  believed 
in  the  dangers  and  were  willing  to  risk  their  own  fortunes 
and  heads  in  combating  them.  Even  a belated  dictator 
like  Cipriano  Castro  of  Venezuela,  whose  international 
squabbles  provoked  a storm  of  wrathful  ridicule,  had  a 
high,  if  exaggerated,  spirit  of  patriotism  and  stoutly  in- 
sisted on  the  treatment  due  a regularly  constituted  nation. 

MODERN  METHODS  OF  INSPIRING  PATRIOTISM 

The  nationalistic  education  of  the  public  has  now  re- 
placed the  violent  methods  of  the  dictators.  Patriotism 
and  nationalism  are  taught  in  the  schools  either  openly  or 
by  indirection. 

The  national  songs  of  Latin  America, — many  of  which 
surpass  in  beauty  of  thought  and  music  those  of  far  more 
prominent  nations, — are  sung  daily  with  fire  and  fervor 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Latin  American 
lands.  The  adoration  of  the  flag  as  the  symbol  of  the  na- 
tion is  invested  with  a religious  solemnity : and  the  children 
of  immigrants,  as  well  as  the  native-born  children,  quickly 
become  infected,  as  Mr.  J.  O.  P.  Bland  points  out,  with 


198 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


that  love  of  the  flag  which  all  nations  most  aspire  to  im- 
plant in  the  breasts  of  the  growing  generations: 

. . . All  this  flotsam  and  jetsam  from  the  shores  of  Europe 
is  being  rapidly  and  consciously  amalgamated  into  a new  and 
sturdy  generation  of  Argentinos.  The  sons  of  an  Englishman, 
born  here  of  a native  woman,  will  grow  up  without  knowledge 
of  the  English  tongue  and  not  desire  to  learn  it.  In  the 
colonists’  school  attached  to  the  factory  [there  is  a separate 
one  for  Indians]  the  cult  of  the  flag  is  a very  sincere  and 
serious  ceremony,  in  which  the  children  take  intense  pride. 

From  Cuba  and  Mexico  down  to  the  nethermost  tip  of 
the  South  American  continent,  the  national  history  of  each 
republic  is  taught  by  means  of  nationally  adopted  text- 
books setting  forth  the  glories  of  the  Fatherland  and  dis- 
counting its  defects,  though  often,  as  in  Francisco  Valdes 
Vergara’s  Historia  de  Chile,  treating  with  surprising  im- 
partiality both  the  good  and  the  bad.  Many  of  the  repub- 
lics have  introduced  into  their  schools  books  of  the  nature 
of  the  Argentine  Espora’s  Episodios  nacionales  (National 
Episodes),  which  are  a challenge  to  young  readers  of  all 
classes  to  emulate  the  patriotic  self-sacrifice  and  unques- 
tioning loyalty  of  the  men,  women  and  children  of  low  and 
high  rank  whose  exploits  are  narrated  in  a ringing,  melo- 
dramatic style.  Recently,  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion of  Venezuela  issued  an  order  to  the  inspectors  of 
schools  requesting  them  to  substitute  patriotic  readings 
dealing  with  the  life  of  Bolivar  and  other  heroes  of  the 
War  of  Independence  for  many  of  the  less  significant  books 
now  in  use. 

The  larger  and  more  mature  public  is  similarly  induced 
to  patriotic  ardor  by  the  broader  educational  agencies  of 
public  discussion,  newspaper,  panegyrics,  national  exposi- 
tions and  congresses,  literary  contests,  political  oratory,  and 
regionalistic  poems,  novels,  plays  and  operas. 

REGIONALISTIC  LITERATURE  AND  PATRIOTISM 

The  regionalistic  phase  of  Latin  American  literature 
has,  in  fact,  resulted  in  the  strongest  and  best  works 
which  Latin  American  writers  have  thus  far  produced: 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


199 


and  regionalism  is,  of  course,  in  the  final  analysis,  synony- 
mous with  patriotism  and  nationalism. 

A whole  literature  with  a deeply  regionalistic  and  na- 
tionalistic substratum  of  feeling  has  grown  up  about  the 
gaucho,  or  cowboy,  of  the  southern  plains  of  South  Amer- 
ica. The  gaucho  typifies,  particularly  for  Argentina,  the 
independent  spirit,  the  hardihood,  the  naive  sentimentality, 
the  quick  presence  of  mind,  and  the  promptness  to  action 
which  all  effete  countries,  or  those  on  the  road  to  becoming 
effete,  are  fond  of  recalling  as  a sign  of  what  their  virile 
manhood  once  was. 

The  gaucho  is  to  Argentine  writers  what  our  trappers, 
our  Daniel  Boones,  our  cowboys,  apotheosized  in  the  tales 
of  James  Fenimore  Cooper  and  0.  Henry,  are  to  our  story- 
tellers. 

Though  nearly  extinct,  the  gaucho  survives  as  a national 
hero.  He  is  the  most  characteristically  epic  figure  wrought 
by  Latin  American  civilization,  and  Sarmiento  has  aptly 
chosen  him  in  Facundo  for  the  protagonist  in  his  half- 
romantic,  half-philosophical  treatise  on  Argentine  evolu- 
tion and  the  pernicious  policies  of  Juan  Manuel  de  Rosas. 
The  gaucho’ s home,  the  pampas,  his  inner  life,  his  taking 
of  the  law  in  his  hands,  his  simple,  poetic  improvisation, 
his  devotion  to  his  horse,  his  melancholy,  his  fondness  for 
the  guitar  have  been  the  theme  of  the  Argentine  writers 
Echeverrta,  J.  M.  Gutierrez  ( Amoves  del  Payador,  The 
Loves  of  the  Minstrel),  Bartolome  Mitre,  Ricardo 
Gutierrez  ( Fausto , Faust:  The  impressions  of  the  gaucho, 
Anastasio  el  Polio,  at  the  performance  of  the  opera  deal- 
ing with  Goethe’s  hero),  Jose  Hernandez  ( Martin  Fierro: 
the  story  of  a gaucho  driven  to  outlawry  by  his  misfor- 
tunes), and  many  other  poets,  novelists,  and  playwrights, 
among  whom  should  be  mentioned  Francisco  Bauza  of 
Uruguay.  Everywhere  the  gaucho  is  represented  as  the 
primeval  Argentinian  or  Uruguayan  out  of  whom  grew 
the  rich  and  complicated  civilization  of  to-day. 

The  gaucho  is,  too,  a tribute  to  the  ability  of  Latin  Amer- 
ican writers  to  create  a genuinely  original  literary  species. 
That  the  gaucho  literature,  either  from  its  national  or  its 


200 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


esthetic  qualities,  is  peculiarly  attractive  even  in  transla- 
tion may  be  gathered  from  the  comment  of  a wide  reader 
of  Latin  American  literature:  “The  most  interesting  trans- 
lation from  South  America,  according  to  my  tastes,  is 
‘Three  Plays  from  the  Argentine’  . . . gaucho — cowboy 
or  outlaw — dramas,  naive  and  vigorous,  as  they  are  given 
in  the  traveling  theatres,  a curious  local  development.” 

Throughout  Latin  America,  in  fact,  national  customs 
and  manners  and  national  history  now  occupy  the  first 
place  in  the  repertory  of  both  popular  and  scholarly 
writers.  Maria  by  Jorge  Isaacs,  the  Colombian — the 
favorite  novel  of  Latin  America,  and  an  idyl  that  recalls 
Chateaubriand,  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre,  and  Edgar 
Allan  Poe’s  Raven — has  been  known  in  English  for  nearly 
half  a century,  and  Marroquin’s  Pax,  Marmot's  Amalia, 
Alberto  Blest  Gana’s  Martin  Rivas,  and  a few  regionalistic 
works  by  Rufino  Blanco-Fombona  and  other  Latin  Amer- 
ican authors  have  recently  been  made  available  in  English 
translations. 

But  these  works  by  no  means  complete  the  tale  of  the 
tremendous  output  of  regionalistic  literature  during  the 
past  half  century.  Pastor  Obligado,  Carlos  Maria  Ocantos, 
and  Emma  B.  de  la  Barra  of  Argentina,  Luis  Orrego  Luco, 
Enrique  del  Solar,  and  Alberto  Blest  Gana  of  Chile,  Rufino 
Blanco-Fombona  and  Manuel  Diaz  Rodriquez  of  Venezuela, 
Ricardo  Palma  of  Peru,  Justo  Sierra  and  Jose  Maria  Roa 
Barcena  of  Mexico,  Carlos  Reyles  and  Eduardo  Acevedo 
Dias  of  Uruguay,  Fernandez  Guardia  and  Aquiles 
Echeverria  of  Costa  Rica,  Federico  Garcia  Godoy  of  the 
Dominican  Republic,  Manuel  Zeno  Gandia  and  Manuel 
Fernandez  Juneos  of  Porto  Rico,  Jesus  Castellanos  of  Cuba, 
besides  a whole  school  of  regionalists  in  Brazil,  are  only  a 
handful  out  of  the  great  multitude  of  Latin  American  men 
and  women  of  letters  who  are  finding  inspiration  in  the 
national  life  of  their  countries  and  giving  the  national  life 
a more  elevated  status  in  the  eyes  of  their  fellow-citizens. 
Out  of  this  plethora  of  regionalism  a few  classics  may  be 
expected  with  confidence. 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


201 


FEAR  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  LATIN  AMERICAN 

patriotism; 

The  internal  incitements  to  the  growth  of  nationalism, 
detailed  in  the  preceding  paragraphs,  are  supplemented 
by  an  ever-present  external  factor — the  southward  pres- 
sure of  the  United  States.  The  fears  felt  by  the  Latin 
American  republics  are  in  every  way  identical  with  the 
feelings  of  the  countries  surrounding  ante-bellum  Ger- 
many. The  United  States  looms  up  as  a huge  avalanche, 
gathering  momentum  year  by  year,  cutting  oft  a corner  of 
Latin  America  at  periodic  intervals,  and  certain  in  the 
end,  unless  superhuman  efforts  are  made,  to  engulf  every- 
thing below  the  Rio  Grande — at  least,  so  reason  many  other- 
wise sane  and  enlightened  Latin  Americans.  The  convic- 
tion is  firmly  rooted  that  a malevolent  plan  of  absorption 
is  being  carried  out  with  implacable  conscientiousness,  and 
that  Latin  American  nationality  is  under  present  condi- 
tions totally  unable  to  withstand  annihilation.  The  United 
States  is  to  Latin  America,  in  many  quarters,  what  the 
“Bear  that  walks  like  a man”  has  been  to  European  states- 
men since  the  days  of  Peter  the  Great : and  Latin  America 
is  helpless,  because  it  cannot  help  itself  nor,  on  account  of 
the  Monroe  Doctrine,  enter  into  entangling  alliances. 

Always  behind  the  growing  cordiality  between  Latin 
America  and  the  United  States  lurk  the  fears  appealed 
to  with  some  virulence  by  Senor  Rufino  Blanco-Fombona, 
perhaps  the  most  distinguished  contemporary  litterateur 
of  Venezuela,  but  harbored  in  secret  by  thinking  Latin 
Americans  of  more  moderate  temperament: 

The  United  States  was  until  the  first  war  with  Mexico  a 
people  without  militaristic  or  imperialistic  ambitions,  the 
model  and  the  home  of  civic  liberty.  All  South  America  ad- 
mired it  with  the  same  ardor  with  which  to-day  it  detests  it 
for  its  fraudulent  elections,  its  trusts,  its  Tammany  Hall  . . . 
its  shirt-sleeve  diplomacy,  its  university  professors  who  write 
about  Spanish  America  with  supine  ignorance,  its  explosion 
of  the  Maine,  its  Panama  secession,  its  seizure  of  the  finances 
of  Honduras,  its  control  of  the  custom-houses  of  Santo  Domingo, 
the  blood  which  it  spilled  and  the  independence  which  it  de- 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


202 

stroyed  in  Nicaragua,  tlie  revolutions  which  it  foments  in  Mexico 
and  its  landing  at  Vera  Cruz,  its  claim  of  81,500,000  bolivares 
against  Venezuela  when  in  reality  only  2,182,253  were  due  it, 
according  to  the  verdict  of  a foreign  arbitrator,  its  Alsop 
claim  against  Chile,  its  ill-concealed  views  on  the  Galapagos 
Islands  of  Ecuador  and  the  Chinchas  Islands  of  Peru,  its  daily 
affirmation  that  Argentine  statistics  are  not  worth  believing, 
its  pretensions  of  hindering  Brazil  from  valorizing  its  coffee 
as  seems  best  to  it,  its  knocking  in  the  head  of  Porto  Rico, 
its  Platt  amendment  to  the  Cuban  Constitution,  its  purposeful 
conversion  of  its  cables  and  newspapers  into  a discrediting 
bureau  against  all  and  each  of  the  American  republics,  its 
aggressive  imperialism,  its  entire  conduct,  with  respect  to  Latin 
America  for  the  past  half-century. 

Convictions  like  these,  though  discredited  by  the  diplo- 
matic activities  of  the  United  States  since  the  beginning  of 
this  century,  by  the  friendly  reception  by  the  newspapers 
of  any  material  favorable  to  Latin  America,  by  the  tre- 
mendous circulation  of  the  Pan  American  Bulletin,  the 
South  American,  the  Pan  American  Magazine,  and  other 
periodicals  consistently  devoted  to  the  presentation  of 
laudatory  and  appreciative  articles  on  Latin  America,  by 
the  earnest  efforts  of  teachers  to  dispel  antiquated  notions 
about  the  Latin  American  republics,  by  the  publication  of 
innumerable  books  which  make  a point  of  emphasizing  the 
merits  and  passing  over  the  defects  of  those  countries,  by 
our  withdrawal  from  Cuba  and  Santo  Domingo  and  our 
abstention  from  positive  political  interference  in  Mexico, 
naturally  carry  weight  in  Latin  America  when  uttered  by 
men  of  standing.  They  reinforce  the  nationalistic  senti- 
ments of  the  countries  on  our  frontiers,  such  as  Cuba, 
Mexico,  Central  America,  Santo  Domingo,  Venezuela,  and 
Colombia,  foster  the  ambitions  of  Argentina,  Chile,  and 
the  more  distant  republics  to  try  to  attain  to  a development 
which  will  enable  them  to  shake  off  our  influence  on  their 
destiny,  and  cause  Latin  America  as  a whole  to  rise  up 
in  indignation  whenever  the  United  States  appears  to  in- 
fringe the  rights  or  wound  the  feelings  of  any  one  of  the 
republics  by  military,  political,  or  commercial  means. 

The  double  effect  of  the  heightening  of  the  national  spirit 
from  within  by  the  instrumentality  of  education,  social  and 


The  Growth  of  Nationalism 


203 


commercial  expansion,  and  newspaper  and  political  indoc- 
trination, and  of  the  stiffening  of  the  national  backbone 
by  pressure  from  without  has  already  led  to  a species  of 
jingoism  in  Argentina  and  Chile.  The  preponderance  of 
Argentina,  Chile,  and  Brazil  has  caused  some  tremors 
among  their  smaller  neighbors,  and,  consequently,  a more 
emphatic  nationalism. 

THE  “ENTENTE”  IDEA  SUPPLANTING  THE  IDEA  OF 
CONFEDERATION 

Everything,  indeed,  portends  in  Latin  American  a dupli- 
cation of  European  conditions,  with  notions  of  strongly 
marked  individuality,  and  the  necessity  for  evolving  some 
form  of  “balance  of  power.”  The  age  of  alliance  and 
ententes  has  already  dawned  in  Latin  America,  because 
the  republics  have  developed  into  genuine  nations.  Such 
confederations  as  the  Central  American  Union  are  ana- 
chronistic if  construed  under  the  old  meaning  of  “federa- 
tion” or  “confederation” : but  as  an  entente  among  nations, 
the  Central  American  Union  may  thrive.  If  it  has  really 
been  projected  as  an  ordinary  “confederation,”  it  is  fore- 
doomed, like  previous  similar  combinations,  to  failure. 

The  rise  of  nationalism  in  Latin  America  is  one  of  the 
most  significant  political  and  social  phenomena  of  this 
present-day  modern  world,  and  deserves  much  closer  study 
than  has  as  yet  been  accorded  to  it. 

“As  to  what  may  happen,”  observes  Viscount  Bryce  in 
concluding  his  chapter  on  “The  Rise  of  New  Nations”  in 
South  America,  “when  one  or  two  of  the  South  American 
countries  have  reached  the  population  and  wealth  of  France 
or  Italy,  it  is  vain  to  speculate.  Those  who  live  to  see 
that  day  will  see  a world  wholly  unlike  ours.” 

Speculation  on  this  score  is,  nevertheless,  highly  allur^ 
ing,  particularly  in  view  of  the  certainty  that  not  one  or 
two,  but  at  least  a dozen  nations  with  the  population  and 
wealth  of  France  and  Italy  will  one  day,  through  natural 
growth  alone,  share  the  Western  Hemisphere  with  the 
United  States.  Brazil  already  has  a population  of  30,000,- 
000  people  as  compared  with  the  41,500,000  of  France  and 
the  40,000,000  of  Italy. 


CHAPTER  IX 


SOCIAL  DEVELOPMENT 

Political  stability,  peace,  increasing  affluence,  the  removal 
of  isolation,  and  the  growth  of  a national  consciousness 
have  so  modified  our  national  characteristics  that  we  can 
now  read  with  equanimity  the  criticism  of  Harriet  Mar- 
tineau,  Mrs.  Trollope,  Captain  Basil  Hall,  Dickens,  or 
Captain  Marryat. 

EARLY  EUROPEAN  CRITICISM 

Returning  home  [relates  Mr.  John  Graham  Brooks  in  that 
delectable  volume,  As  Others  See  Us,  which  every  American  and 
every  visitor  to  America  should  read],  I at  once  reread 
Dickens’s  “American  Notes”  and  the  parts  of  “Martin  Chuz- 
zlewit”  which  refer  to  the  United  States.  I had  forgotten 
the  lively  resentment  roused  by  their  first  reading.  What  had 
happened  that  thirty  years  later  the  smart  of  his  grossest 
caricatures  had  utterly  disappeared?  It  was  partly  because 
one  recognized  so  much  truth  in  the  picture. 

The  critic  of  Latin  American  social  and  personal  habits 
may  well  reflect  on  the  state  of  our  customs  and  manners 
as  they  appeared  to  English,  French,  and  German  observers 
down  to  a recent  date  before  condemning  too  sweepingly 
the  Latin  American  customs  and  manners  which  irritate 
him;  and  the  Latin  American  may  peruse  with  tranquil 
philosophy  strictures  on  his  countries  which  time  and 
acquaintance  will  quickly  modify.  Already  the  tone  of 
American  travelers  and  observers  is  changing  for  the 
better. 

In  an  illuminating  chapter  on  1 1 Certain  South  American 
Traits,”  Professor  Hiram  Bingham,  in  Across  South 
America,  compares  many  of  the  every-day  habits  of  Latin 
Americans  with  those  of  our  social  customs  and  practices 
wdiich  were  satirized  by  Dickens  something  over  seventy^ 
five  years  ago : 


204 


Social  Development 


205 


Although  it  is  true  that  the  historical  and  geographical  back- 
ground of  the  South  Americans  is  radically  different  from 
ours,  it  is  also  true  that  they  have  many  social  and  superficial 
characteristics  very  like  those  which  European  travellers  found 
in  the  United  States  fifty  years  ago.  The  period  of  time  is 
not  accidental.  The  South  American  Republics  secured  their 
independence  nearly  fifty  years  later  than  we  did.  Moreover, 
they  have  been  hampered  in  their  advancement  by  natural  diffi- 
culties and  racial  antipathies  much  more  than  we  have.  Al- 
though the  conditions  of  life  in  the  United  States,  as  depicted 
by  foreign  critics  seventy-five  years  after  the  battle  of  York- 
towu,  were  decidedly  worse  than  the  conditions  of  life  seventy- 
five  years  after  the  battle  of  Ayacucho,  the  resemblances  be- 
tween the  faults  that  were  found  with  us  fifty  years  ago  and 
those  that  are  noticeable  among  the  South  Americans  of  to-day, 
are  too  striking  to  be  merely  coincidences.  It  is  surely  not 
for  us  to  say  that  there  is  anything  inherently  wrong  with 
our  Southern  neighbors  if  their  shortcomings  are  such  as  we 
ourselves  had  not  long  ago,  and  possibly  have  to-day. 

Our  habits  were  undoubtedly  what  Dickens  reported, 
but  they  were  not  our  only  habits  nor  our  best  ones. 

In  the  new  and  pioneer  surroundings  which  Dickens 
described,  our  table-manners  most  certainly  left  much  to 
be  desired.  That  any  good  came  to  Englishmen  or  to 
ourselves  from  the  humorous  and  not  altogether  kindly 
portrayal  of  the  way  we  ate,  of  what  we  ate,  of  how  we 
handled  our  knives,  of  what  our  social  etiquette  in  general 
was,  may  seriously  be  questioned.  Dickens  wrote  to  batten 
the  pride  of  his  countrymen,  to  put  us  in  our  place,  and 
to  simulate  the  impartial  observer  of  strange  lower  races. 
Not  far  different  in  purpose  are  the  caustic  American 
criticisms  of  Latin  American  manners  and  mannerisms. 
But  they  lead  to  nothing — except  animosity.  They  are  not 
valuable  contributions  to  sociology,  nor  are  they  usually 
even  humorous. 

A much  more  profitable  study  is  that  which  concerns 
itself  with  the  broader  social  and  cultural  movements 
inevitably  altering  individual  and  group  customs  and  man- 
ners. The  progressive  development  of  antiseptic  measures 
has  done  more  to  refine  our  manners  than  any  comments 
by  foreign  or  native  cavilers,  and  the  unfolding  of  the 
arts  and  the  teachings  of  the  schools  have  made  intolerable 


206 


Social  Development 


the  idiosyncrasies  of  nations  wholly  immersed  in  the  be- 
ginnings in  the  acquisition  of  the  means  of  subsistence. 

Judged  by  our  highest  standards,  the  ways  of  many  of 
our  immigrants,  laborers,  farmers,  and  negroes  must  seem 
deplorable:  but  those  ways  are  being  constantly  improved 
by  forces  outside  the  homes  and  beyond  the  personal 
initiative  of  the  lower  strata  of  our  society.  The  same 
thing  is  true  in  Latin  America.  So  long  as  the  upper  and 
the  lower  castes  remained  separated  by  a world  of  tradition, 
the  difference  in  habits  was  striking,  and  sometimes  shock- 
ing. The  new  era  of  industrial,  educational,  and  cultural 
advancement  is,  however,  effectually  raising  the  standard  of 
living  of  the  less  fortunate  members  of  society  and  slowly, 
yet  perceptibly,  eliminating  those  crude  public  mannerisms 
which  prove  offensive  to  fastidious  tourists. 

The  basic  elements  of  Latin  American  character  are  such 
as  to  preserve  it  from  gross  vulgarity.  It  is  inherently 
sociable  and  imitative,  and  abnormally  sensitive  to  criti- 
cism. The  individual  does  not  often  dare  to  go  counter  to 
established  good  usage.  The  desire  to  keep  up  appearances 
is  universal.  As  soon  as  changes  in  customs  are  sanctioned 
by  that  respectable,  anonymous  segment  of  society  which 
decrees  what  is  socially  right  or  wrong,  their  acceptance 
at  large  is  assured. 

FOREIGN  INFLUENCES  ON  LATIN  AMERICAN  SOCIAL  USAGE 

The  makers  of  customs  and  manners,  once  entirely  under 
the  sway  of  Spanish  ideals,  are  now  looking  to  France, 
England,  and  the  United  States  for  social  guidance. 
French  art,  feminine  fashions,  mental  concepts,  and,  to  a 
certain  degree,  social  usage,  hold  a dictatorial  position  in 
most  of  the  republics.  In  men’s  attire,  sports,  industrial 
or  commercial  equipment  or  forms,  and,  here  and  there, 
architectural  arrangements,  England  and  the  United  States 
are  the  more  recent  arbiters,  though,  of  course,  the  style 
in  houses  is  predominantly  of  the  old  Spanish  type,  with 
the  French  structure  serving  as  the  model  in  such  cities 
as  Buenos  Aires  and  Rio  de  Janeiro.  In  many  cities,  the 
cuisine  is  French,  and  in  many  commercial  houses,  the 


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207 


business  practice  is  English  or  American.  Advanced  or 
“radical”  ideas  are  introduced  by  foreigners  from  Europe, 
with  an  especially  noticeable  influence  in  the  industrial 
centers.  The  progressive  social  movements  of  Latin 
America  originate  either  in  Europe  or  the  United  States. 

Such  facts  as  these  point  to  an  inevitable  alteration  in 
customs  and  manners.  It  is  possible  to  see  foreign  habits 
visibly  attaching  themselves  to  traditional  native  habits 
and  gradually  obliterating  them.  The  fondness  for  foot- 
ball and  the  turf  in  the  South  has  already  driven  out  bull- 
fights and  is  sharing  the  honors  with  the  chasse  a la  femme 
in  the  minds  of  Latin  American  adolescents.  Italian,  Ger- 
man, and  Russian  laboriousness  have  changed  the  former 
leisurely,  sociable  life  of  Buenos  Aires  and  Sao  Paulo. 
Instead  of  putting  off  all  personal  activity  until  manana 
the  modern  Porteno  or  inhabitant  of  Buenos  Aires,  and  tbe 
modern  Paulista  hustle  like  Americans,  forget  some  of  the 
age-old  street  courtesies,  and  reveal  themselves  in  a new 
light  as  frenzied  seekers  after  Mammon. 

It  will,  to  be  sure,  be  a great  pity  if  the  Latin  American 
loses  in  the  transition  to  modern  ways  that  Latin  polite- 
ness which  to  us  seems  excessive  and  somewhat  hypocritical. 
His  courteous  address  is  almost  always  to  be  preferred  to 
our  brusqueness  and  apparently  frank,  but  often  deceptive, 
directness.  There  is  no  particular  virtue  in  manners 
stripped  of  gentility  and  urbanity.  The  Latin  American 
verbiage  may  signify  no  more  than  our  curtness,  and  his 
ceremoniousness  may  be  no  more  cordial  than  our  blunt- 
ness : but  they  do,  however,  probably  signify  as  much. 

Any  American  who  has  lived  long  in  Latin  America 
comes  to  have  a warm  spot  in  his  heart  for  the  courtly 
manners  which  forbid  mockery  of  the  execrable  Spanish 
so  frequently  assaulting  Latin  American  ears — a broken 
language  which,  if  duplicated  in  Anglo-Saxon  countries, 
excites  guffaws  and  crude  ridicule — and  for  the  considera- 
tion which  requires  that  the  head  shall  be  uncovered  when 
a funeral  procession  passes.  The  early  age  at  which  boys 
and  girls  assume  the  dignity  and  the  savoir-faire  of  their 
elders  is  not  to  be  deplored  nor  regarded  as  shallow.  The 


208 


Social  Development 


long  childhood  and  boisterous  ways  of  the  average  Amer- 
ican boy  and  girl,  while  suggestive,  perhaps,  of  exuberant 
animal  spirits  and  a normal  development  toward  an  age  of 
reason,  are  not  always  the  most  highly  pleasant  feature  of 
our  social  life.  If  the  Latin  Americans  appear  to  make 
their  young  people  prematurely  old,  we  on  the  other  hand 
tend  to  keep  our  adolescents  needlessly  noisy  and  childlike : 
and  they  are  no  more  priggish  in  their  point  of  view  than 
we  are  in  ours. 

Surveying  the  Latin  American  social,  spiritual,  and 
mental  characteristics  impartially,  we  find,  in  fact,  that 
they  are  not  in  any  fundamental  detail  different  from  the 
common  characteristics  of  any  of  the  Latin  races  of  Europe, 
the  French,  for  example. 

In  spite  of  the  long  connection  with  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  and  in  spite  of  the  position  of  that  church  as  the 
official  representative  of  the  national  religion,  tolerance 
of  creed  is  as  general  and  as  sincere  in  Latin  America  as 
in  the  United  States  or  England.  The  Protestant  churches 
in  Argentina,  Brazil,  Cuba,  Mexico  are  as  well  protected 
and  as  little  disturbed  as  they  are  in  France.  Racial 
tolerance,  too,  is  treated  as  in  France : and  though  the  color 
line  is  drawn  in  some  of  the  upper  circles  much  more 
rigidly  than  we  have  any  conception  of,  the  attitude  toward 
the  negro  is,  on  the  whole,  of  the  French  type,  and  not  at 
all  the  sentiment  of  repugnance  and  hostility  usually 
exhibited  in  the  United  States.  Notwithstanding  the  lack 
of  discrimination  against  the  negro,  and  perhaps  because 
of  it,  the  major  crimes  such  as  rape,  for  which  the  negroes 
are  mainly  responsible  in  the  United  States,  are  practically 
unknown  in  Latin  America.  In  any  case,  whether  that 
racial  tolerance  is  commendable  or  not,  Latin  America  has 
thus  far  avoided  a negro  problem  in  the  north,  and  can- 
not have  any  in  the  south  because  of  the  almost  total 
absence  of  the  negro. 

On  the  more  positive  side,  too,  the  Latin  American 
character  has  many  affiliations  with  the  character  of  the 
Latin  races  of  Europe.  It  is  artistic  to  a pronounced 
degree,  free  from  intellectual  dogmatism,  and  naturally 


Social  Development 


209 


well-bred.  This  does  not  mean,  of  course,  that  the  Latin 
Americans  are  any  less  superstitious  than  the  rest  of  man- 
kind, or  intellectually  superior,  or  kinder  or  better  at  heart. 
Travelers  have  brought  back  enough  instances  of  their 
peculiar  and  unattractive  traditions,  their  slowness  to  join 
the  forces  of  progress,  and  the  discords  in  their  architec- 
ture, dress,  and  adornments  to  dispel  any  such  notion.  But 
comparing  like  strata  and  like  environments,  it  would  be 
unjust  to  refuse  to  recognize  that  the  Latin  American  tem- 
perament, customs,  and  manners  are  identical  with  the 
French,  Italian,  or  Spanish.  The  wealthier,  educated 
classes  have  the  European  Latin  culture  and  charm,  and 
the  working  people  that  quietness  of  bearing  and  that 
naturally  simple  and  equable  philosophy  which  mark  the 
Latin  working  people  of  Europe. 

PHYSICAL  CULTURE  AND  ATHLETICS 

Among  the  newer  influences  which  are  bringing  a breath 
of  fresh  air  into  Latin  American  community  life  and  dis- 
sipating the  staleness  of  traditional  indoor  diversions,  none 
offers  more  positive  benefits  than  calisthenics  in  the  schools, 
athletics,  or  sports  in  general. 

England  and  the  United  States,  from  whom  the  fondness 
for  athletics  is  taken,  are  thus  remodeling  in  one  most 
important  direction  the  scheme  of  Latin  American  exist- 
ence. The  growing  generation  in  several  of  the  Latin 
American  republics  is  thereby  divesting  itself  of  its  less 
useful  antiquated  Latinity  and  acquiring  a taste  for  phys- 
ical energy  which  has  not  been  a distinguishing  trait  of 
previous  generations.  It  is  substituting  an  outdoor  excite- 
ment for  indoor  excitement. 

Some  writers  explain  that  the  love  for  gambling,  which 
has  always  been  one  of  the  plagues  of  Latin  America,  is 
traceable  chiefly  to  the  instincts  of  the  aboriginal  Indians, 
as  are  alcoholism  and  petty  thievery.  The  southern 
European,  who  constitutes  the  largest  element  in  immigra- 
tion, is  represented  as  naturally  abstemious  and,  though 
given  to  gambling,  not  dominated,  like  the  Indians,  by  an 


210 


Social  Development 


unreasoning  passion  for  it.  The  truth  is  probably  to  be 
found  between  the  two  extremes. 

That  the  Indian  has  never  learned  self-control  is 
undoubted : but  it  is  also  certain  that  the  southern 
European,  even  at  home,  is  not  nearly  as  sober  as  conven- 
tional opinion  paints  him.  Zola’s  L’Assommoir  is  a faith- 
ful description  of  the  dregs  of  society  in  Paris,  and  the 
dramshop  and  the  Americanized  bar,  if  not  of  long  stand- 
ing in  France,  Italy,  and  Spain,  have  of  late  years  become 
recognized  institutions.  Moreover,  the  evil  influence  of 
the  brandy  and  soda  of  the  English  should  not  be  over- 
looked. The  gambling  propensities,  too,  of  the  southern 
Europeans  are  as  highly  developed  as  are  those  of  the 
Indians,  and  were  not  acquired  by  contamination.  It  is, 
in  fact,  only  in  the  countries  with  a large  Indian  popula- 
tion, such  as  Peru,  Bolivia,  Paraguay,  that  the  inclination 
for  heavy  gambling  and  drinking  may  be  ascribed  to  the 
Indians,  and  then,  only  in  the  rural  districts.  In  the  cities, 
those  failings  have  resulted  almost  entirely  from  the  prac- 
tices of  Europeans. 

The  governmental  protection  given  to  the  lotteries,  by 
which  many  American  visitors  are  scandalized,  is  simply 
an  adoption  of  a European  custom:  and  such  “plunging” 
as  the  betting  of  between  $25,000,000  and  $30,000,000 
annually  on  horse-racing  in  Buenos  Aires  is  the  consequence 
of  a distinctly  European  fever  for  excitement  and  “easy 
money,”  comparable  with  the  giddy  speculation  in  land  in 
Argentina. 

The  Indian,  in  truth,  has  had  as  little  to  do  with  the 
ruling  passions  of  the  white  man  in  Latin  America  as  in 
North  America. 

Public  and  private  agencies  are  actively  engaged  in 
breaking  down  these  sedentary,  enervating,  and  impoverish- 
ing habits.  Physical  culture  has  become  one  of  the  fixed 
requirements  of  the  school  system  in  every  Latin  American 
country.  In  the  Caribbean  republics,  base-ball,  stimulated 
by  its  popularity  in  the  United  States  and  by  the  support 
of  the  teachers,  has  almost  become  the  national  sport.  In 
the  southern  republics,  the  English  game  of  football  i* 


JOCKEY  CLUBS  GRANDSTAND  AT  THE  RACE  TRACK. 


Social  Development 


211 


played  with  enthusiasm,  and  the  results  chronicled  daily 
in  the  newspapers.  Target-practice,  bicycling,  and  boating 
are  common.  The  boat-clubs  on  the  Rio  Tigre,  near  Bueno* 
Aires,  are  numerous,  are  generally  composed  of  members 
of  the  same  nationality,  and  in  some  cases  are  of  unusual 
size,  the  British  rowing  club  being  considered  one  of  the 
largest,  if  not  the  largest,  organization  of  the  kind  in  the 
world.  The  international  athletic  tournaments  of  Latin 
America  have  become  important  social  events.  The  Fourth 
South  American  Championship  Athletic  Contest,  held  in 
Santiago,  Chile,  in  April,  1920,  aroused  great  public  in- 
terest, and  resulted  in  the  award  of  first  place  to  Chile, 
second  place  to  Uruguay,  and  third  place  to  Argentina. 

Apropos  of  the  Central  American  Olympic  Games,  held 
in  1921  in  Guatemala,  the  Diario  del  Comercio,  one  of  the 
newspapers  of  San  Jose,  Costa  Rica,  comments  as  follows: 

Sports  are  daily  assuming  larger  proportions.  Baseball,  foot- 
ball, tennis,  golf,  boxing,  and  many  others  have  fervent  de- 
votees, among  whom  figure  the  most  distinguished  personages 
in  the  political,  social,  and  financial  world.  The  Central  Ameri- 
can people  is  becoming  thoroughly  convinced  of  the  great  value 
of  physical  culture  and  of  the  high  place  which  it  occupies 
in  the  development  of  nations. 

The  governments  of  the  southern  countries  of  South 
America,  especially,  appear  anxious  to  encoui’age  outdoor 
sport  as  an  innocent  outlet  for  the  animal  spirits  of  the 
young. 

In  1920  the  municipality  of  Buenos  Aires  made  over 
to  the  Mariano  Moreno  National  College  an  extensive 
athletic  field,  to  be  provided  with  the  most  modern  equip- 
ment and  ample  bathing  facilities:  and  the  State  Congress 
of  Sao  Paulo  now  has  under  consideration  a petition  for 
the  construction  of  an  amusement  center  in  the  city  of 
Sao  Paulo,  which  is  to  include  pavilions  and  bathrooms 
for  sea-baths — the  water  for  which  will  be  piped  from 
Santos — and  a large  field  for  athletic  events.  The  school 
authorities  of  Peru  hold  physical  tests  of  school  children 
in  running,  jumping,  and  chinning,  and  in  one  of  these, 
according  to  Professor  Edward  A.  Ross,  made  on  1500 


212 


Social  Development 


children  of  Lima,  the  comparative  race  performance  was 
as  follows:  negroes  50,  whites  35,  cholos  (mestizos)  28, 
Indians  14. 

Industrial  concerns,  such  as  the  Guggenheim  Company, 
now  consider  it  a part  of  their  duty  to  maintain  play- 
grounds, recreation  centers,  and  supervisors  of  physical 
education  for  their  employees  and  the  children  of  the  lat- 
ter ; wealthy  individuals  donate  prizes  for  athletic  prowess ; 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  as  is  to  be  expected, 
make  athletics  an  important  item  in  their  programmes; 
and  the  boy-scout  movement  has  spread  all  over  Latin 
America.  The  intense  interest  in  automobiling  and  aviation 
is  likewise  a strong  contributing  factor  in  carrying  to  the 
Latin  Americans  the  call  of  the  great  out-doors  and  the 
joy  of  physical  exercise. 

In  the  course  of  a few  generations,  the  physical  results 
of  such  cooperation  by  public  and  private  agencies  should 
become  visible  even  to  the  casual  onlooker.  That  beneficial 
social  changes  will  ensue  as  a logical  consequence  goes 
without  saying. 

In  all  such  movements,  the  outstanding  and  important 
fact  is  that  they  are  becoming  socialized.  Individuals  have 
always  had  their  favorite  diversions,  but  there  has  been 
no  unified  endeavor  to  inculcate  the  habit  of  wholesome 
physical  exercise  in  the  social  classes  which  need  it  most. 
Even  in  sanitation  and  personal  hygiene,  the  principle  of 
laissez-faire  has  predominated  to  a deplorable  degree. 

NEW  CONCEPTION  OF  SANITATION 

The  veritable  army  of  physicians — of  whom  there  are 
over  2500  in  Buenos  Aires  alone,  400  in  Montevideo,  100 
in  Caracas,  about  1000  in  Mexico  City,  and  nearly  3000 
in  the  island  of  Cuba — and  the  excellent  and  surprisingly 
numerous  hospitals  and  clinics,  equal  to  the  best  in  any 
other  part  of  the  world,  have  carried  on  their  healing 
labors  time  out  of  mind  in  the  most  efficient  manner,  but 
with  regard  principally  for  the  cases  actually  in  hand, 
and  not  in  the  broader,  more  modern  sense  of  public 
survey,  prevention,  and  eradication.  To-day,  the  neces- 


Social  Development 


213 


sary  connection  between  the  medical  profession  and  the 
public  authorities  has  been  established,  and  public  health 
projects  have  been  undertaken  through  concerted  action 
and  in  many  instances  already  brought  to  successful  com- 
pletion. 

At  the  present  time,  Cuba,  as  the  following  table  demon- 
strates, ranks  as  the  most  healthful  country  in  the  world : 


Country 

Cuba 

Australia  . . , 

Uruguay  

United  States 
England  .... 
S'pain  


Deaths  per  thousand 

12.54 

12.60 

13.40 

15.00 

17.70 

29.70 


Unable,  until  the  American  occupation,  to  cope  with  it« 
perennial  scourges,  in  spite  of  its  expert  physicians,  trained 
in  the  best  schools  of  Europe  and  the  United  States,  and 
its  splendid  hospitals,  clinics,  and  sanatoriums,  Cuba  then 
learned  what  might  be  accomplished  by  genuine  public 
cooperation,  and  has  taken  the  lesson  to  heart.  It  owes 
its  superior  standing  in  health  to  the  socializing  sanitary 
methods  of  the  United  States,  though  its  debt  to  one  of 
its  own  physicians,  Dr.  Carlos  Juan  Finlay,  the  discoverer 
of  the  cause  of  yellow  fever,  should  never  be  forgotten. 

What  Cuba  has  done  for  the  prevention  of  yellow  fever, 
tuberculosis,  and  other  ravaging  diseases,  has  since  been 
duplicated  in  several  Latin  American  republics,  sometimes, 
as  at  Guayaquil,  Ecuador,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Rocke- 
feller Foundation,  and  at  other  times,  as  at  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
through  the  efforts  of  their  own  medical  men  and  scientists. 

Besides  the  admirable  medical  work  in  Latin  America 
done  under  ordinary  conditions,  which  has  been  described 
in  some  detail  and  heartily  praised  by  Dr.  William  J. 
Mayo  after  a personal  inspection,  the  general  tendency  to 
consider  sanitary  and  hygienic  conditions  as  subjects  of 
public  interest  and  concern  deserves  special  attention.  It 
marks  clearly  the  break  between  the  old,  individualistic 
viewpoint  and  the  modern,  social  attitude,  and  indicates 


214  Social  Development 

the  effect  of  health  regulations  on  personal  habits  and  social 
conduct. 

The  ports  of  the  West  Coast  and  Brazil,  which  have 
always  borne  a bad  reputation  among  travelers  and  sea- 
men because  of  the  ravages  of  yellow  fever,  are  now  per- 
fectly safe,  thanks  to  the  stringent  measures  adopted  and 
enforced  with  regard  to  stagnant  water.  In  Chile  3,000,000 
pesos  (at  normal  exchange  $.3650)  have  been  voted  recently 
for  sanitary  improvements  in  the  cities,  particularly  in 
the  north.  The  Department  of  Health  of  Paraguay  has 
started  a campaign  against  the  hook-worm,  with  which  a 
large  percentage  of  the  suburban  population  is  infected, 
and  has  promulgated  rules  of  personal  hygiene  in  the 
endeavor  to  diminish  the  number  of  deaths,  now  amount- 
ing to  20  per  cent,  due  to  this  disease.  The  tropical 
diseases  of  Brazil  were  vigorously  combated  by  a group 
of  bacteriologists  under  the  guidance  of  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Oswaldo  Cruz,  during  his  lifetime,  and  the  attack  is  being 
carried  forward  by  his  assistants,  an  essential  feature  of 
the  work  consisting  in  the  dissemination  of  knowledge  con- 
cerning the  ailments  under  treatment.  An  executive  decree 
of  February  18,  1921,  prohibiting  the  importation  of 
narcotics  in  Chile  except  for  medicinal  and  pharmaceutical 
purposes,  constitutes  a vigorous  attempt  to  control  the  drug 
habit  which,  as  in  our  metropolitan  cities,  has  left  indelible 
marks  of  physical  and  mental  deterioration  on  the  large 
numbers  of  “addicts.” 

In  these  and  many  other  ways,  such  as  the  organization 
of  the  Latin  American  branches  of  the  Red  Cross,  sanitary 
and  dental  conferences,  the  increasing  employment  of 
American  nurses  and  the  consequent  acceptance  of  Amer- 
ican methods  in  Peru,  Argentina,  Central  America,  and 
elsewhere,  the  teaching  of  hygiene  in  the  schools  and  by 
means  of  public  lectures  and  demonstrations,  and  the 
appointment  of  specialists  to  investigate  the  progress  made 
in  public  sanitation  and  hygiene  in  the  United  States  and 
the  different  European  countries,  the  progressive  Latin 
America  of  to-day  is  becoming  differentiated  from  the 


Social  Development 


215 


proverbial  Latin  America  and  is  fully  entitled  to  the  words 
of  commendation  uttered  by  M.  Clemeneeau : 

Argentine  officials,  like  their  French  brethren,  are  both  fallible 
and  zealous,  and  while  it  was  impossible  that  in  so  many  visits 
there  should  be  no  ground  for  criticism,  yet  I am  anxious  to 
declare  publicly  how  admirably  kept  were  the  schools  of  what- 
ever degree,  the  hospitals,  asylums,  refuges,  and  prisons;  they 
were  not  only  adapted  to  all  the  requirements  of  therapeutics, 
hygiene,  and  the  canons  of  modem  European  science,  but  they 
showed  a genuine  effort  to  do  better  than  the  best.  I should 
have  been  glad  to  have  there  some  of  those  who  make  a 
practice  of  disdaining  these  countries  that  started  very  long 
after  us,  but  that  can  already  give  us  some  salutary  lessons 
through  institutions  such  as  those  I have  named,  which  are 
here  brought  to  a pitch  of  perfection  that  is  in  many  cases 
unknown  with  us. 


SOCIAL  “MOVEMENTS” 

The  testimony  of  shrewd  observers  like  M.  Clemeneeau 
as  to  social  improvement  in  Latin  America  is  uncommonly 
valuable.  The  impression  that  practically  nothing  of  the 
kind  really  exists  is  so  often  taken  for  granted  that  evi- 
dence to  the  contrary  by  noted  men  and  women  is  of  inter- 
national educational  import.  Even  friendly  students  of 
Latin  America  are  sometimes  mistaken,  and  the  statement 
of  Mr.  Clayton  S.  Cooper  that 

South  America,  is  not  a region  known  for  its  social  move- 
ments, and  apart  from  what  is  done  by  the  charities  of  the 
Catholic  Church,  the  country  as  a whole  is  poor  in  activities 
aimed  at  the  betterment  of  society  as  such.  In  this  also  the 
South  American  is  as  unlike  the  North  American  with  his 
multitudinous  ‘‘causes”  and  movements  for  social  betterment, 
as  he  is  like  the  Oriental  in  his  emphasis  upon  individualism 
and  family  devotion, 

needs  restriction. 

Indeed,  what  is  peculiarly  characteristic  of  the  Latin 
America  of  the  twentieth  century  is  that  it  is  taking  up 
every  foreign  “cause”  and  movement  with  avidity,  par- 
ticularly in  the  South  and  on  the  West  Coast,  and  giving 
them  an  enthusiastic  trial.  In  some  cases,  exceedingly 
original  experiments  of  a social  nature  have  been  made  in 


216  Social  Development 

Latin  America  which  will  undoubtedly  be  tried  in  other 
countries. 

One  of  these  innovations  is  the  socialization  of  newspaper 
plants,  as  instanced  in  the  multifarious  activities  carried 
on  in  the  building  of  La  Prensa,  the  Buenos  Aires  daily. 
Another  is  the  furnishing  of  the  correct  time  each  evening 
in  Montevideo  by  the  dimming  of  all  the  electric  lights 
in  the  city  for  a brief  moment,  followed  by  the  flash  back 
to  normal  brilliancy.  Everybody,  whether  at  home,  on  the 
streets,  in  the  tramcars,  or  in  the  restaurants  thus  gets 
absolutely  correct  time  once  a day,  and  the  tremendous 
variations  in  time  which  are  generally  found  in  any  city 
are  simply  and  easily  done  away  with.  It  is  possible,  too, 
that  an  interesting  feature  noted  by  Dr.  William  J.  Mayo 
in  one  of  the  hospitals  of  Montevideo  may  have  a wider 
social  application  than  has  so  far  been  given  to  it.  In 
this  hospital,  “to  prevent  flies  from  entering  the  operating 
rooms,  persons  pass  from  the  main  corridor  through  a 
small  anteroom  with  blue  glass  ceiling,  sides,  and  door. 
It  has  been  demonstrated  that  flies  will  not  pass  through 
this  blue-lighted  space.” 

PROHIBITION  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

The  temperance  movement  is  one  of  the  live  social  issues 
in  many  Latin  American  countri^  It  preoccupies  the 
minds  of  government  officials,  educators,  public-spirited 
citizens,  and  businessmen. 

/In  Peru  the  means  taken  to  combat  alcoholism  are 
directed  primarily  at  the  Indian,  who  appears  totally  in- 
capable of  resisting  the  allurement  of  strong  drink — the 
only  panacea  easily  obtainable  for  the  assuagement  of  an 
existence  sometimes  hard  and  grinding  and  generally  in- 
credibly monotonous  Private  companies  have  made  a 
special  study  of  the  problems  and  introduced  many  of  the 
remedial  measures  employed  in  the  United  States.  The 
Grace  Company  has,  on  one  of  its  great  sugar  estates,  at 
Cartavia,  provided  a church,  a schoolhouse,  and  a motion 
picture  theater  not  merely  for  the  resulting  spiritual  and 
intellectual  benefits,  but  quite  as  much  for  the  opposition 


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217 


offered  by  these  institutions  to  the  natives’  propensity  for 
spending  their  spare  time  at  the  shops  where  chicha  is  sold : 
and  the  returns  in  sobriety  have  amply  repaid  the  finan- 
cial investment. 

Since  1913  the  teaching  of  the  evil  effects  of  alcoholic 
drink  has  been  obligatory  in  the  public  schools  of  Peru, 
following  a campaign  dating  back  to  1896,  and  fomented 
by  at  least  three  influential  societies,  the  League  for  Anti- 
Alcoholic  Propaganda,  the  National  Temperance  League, 
founded  by  the  Rev.  Ruperto  Algorta,  and  the  Children’s 
League  of  Temperance.  Finding  that  the  government  tax 
on  liquor,  first  imposed  in  1885,  has  scarcely  diminished 
the  consumption  of  alcoholic  beverages  and  simply  in- 
creased “bootlegging”  and  other  forms  of  evasion,  The 
temperance  forces  have  finally,  after  years  of  pressure, 
succeeded  in  having  a law  passed  which  prohibits  the  sale 
of  alcoholic  drink  on  Saturdays  and  Sundays,  the  period 
of  greatest  temptation  to  the  Indians^,  and,  according  to 
recent  reports,  has  been  extended  so  as  to  make  illegal 
the  use  of  beverages  containing  even  a low  percentage  of 
alcohol.  Bolivia,  likewise,  has  promulgated  a law  for  the 
closing  of  saloons  on  Sundays,  with  summary  treatment 
for  offenders : and  a constitutional  amendment  has  been 
presented  to  the  Congress  of  Colombia  for  restriction  in 
the  sale  and  consumption  of  alcoholic  beverages. 

The  temperance  question  in  Chile  is  an  even  more  serious 
matter  than  in  the  other  republics.  There,  it  is  the  white 
man,  as  well  as  the  descendants  of  the  Indians,  who  must 
be  protected  against  himself:  and  the  power  of  the  grape- 
growers  has  been  so  strong  as  to  resist  all  attempts  to 
disrupt  the  liquor  traffic.  Various  organizations  are  now 
at  work  arousing  a spirit  of  protest  against  the  most 
flagrant  abuses  connected  with  intemperance,  and  some 
of  the  large  industrial  firms,  including  the  Braden  Copper 
Company,  are  enforcing  prohibition  among  their  employees. 
The  leader  in  the  temperance  cause  is  Don  Carlos 
Fernandez  Pena,  whose  pioneer  activities  have  had  much 
to  do  with  the  creation  of  the  Anti-Alcoholic  League  and 
the  Commission  of  Temperance  and  Social  Study.  The 


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Social  Development 


aid  of  the  women  of  Chile  has  been  invoked  as  the  most 
potent  instrumentality  for  controlling  what  has  developed 
into  a national  vice. 

Whether  rigid  prohibition  can  ever  be  attained  in  Chile 
may  be  a matter  of  debate:  but  that  some  limitations  will 
be  placed  on  alcoholism,  particularly  among  the  working 
classes,  can  hardly  be  disputed.  A law  is  now  before  the 
Chilean  Congress  for  the  establishment  of  “dry  zones”  in 
the  industrial  districts,  and  the  recent  riots  in  the  Lota 
coal  fields,  said  to  be  due  almost  entirely  to  liquor,  will 
unquestionably  aid  in  the  passage  of  the  projected  bill. 
The  industrial  ambitions  of  Chile,  if  nothing  else,  will 
bring  about  some  scheme  of  regulation,  for  without  steady 
labor,  industrial  development  runs  too  many  hazards.  We 
may  expect,  in  fact,  the  same  sharp  conflict  between  the 
vineyardists  and  the  vested  liquor  interests  and  the  pro- 
prietors of  manufacturing  and  other  industrial  establish- 
ments as  arose  between  the  liquor  purveyors  and  the  owners 
of  industrial  plants  in  the  United  States.  The  first  honors 
in  our  battle  for  prohibition  belong  without  question  to 
the  women  of  our  country : but  the  credit  belonging  to  our 
“captains  of  industry,”  whether  because  of  their  modesty 
or  their  diplomacy,  has  never  been  acknowledged  in  a 
sufficiently  public  manner. 

Few  of  the  Latin  American  countries,  from  Mexico  south- 
ward, are  without  prohibition  societies  and  leaders.  The 
movement  is  naturally  sponsored  mainly  by  the  women  of 
the  educated  classes,  but  counts  among  its  faithful 
adherents  men  of  the  most  prominent  positions  in  the 
political,  social,  and  intellectual  life  of  the  republics.  The 
desire  to  save  from  extinction  the  native  races  which  have 
been  slaves  to  alcohol  since  the  days  of  the  Conquest  has 
been  the  principal  motive  of  the  temperance  propaganda 
in  many  of  the  countries:  in  others,  where  the  Indian 
population  is  small,  the  endeavor  is  made  to  stem  the 
brutalization  of  the  working  classes,  which,  because  of  the 
racial  mixture  in  the  large  cities  and  the  presence  of  so 
many  Europeans  without  family  connections,  have  taken 


Social  Development 


219 


to  drink  much  more  generally  than  should  be  supposed 
possible  for  southern  Europeans. 

For  the  Indians  and  mestizos  of  Mexico,  Peru,  Bolivia, 
Ecuador,  and  Chile,  pulque,  chicha,  and  their  congeners 
have  been  an  undeniable  curse,  and  nobody  can  fail  to 
sympathize  with  the  attempts  made  to  lessen  the  serious- 
ness of  that  phase  of  the  liquor  problem,  whatever  may 
be  his  individual  opinions  about  the  merits  of  prohibition 
in  general.  The  destruction  caused  by  alcohol  would,  as 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Zahm  suggests,  be  much  more  formidable  if 
a large  part  of  South  America  had  not  been  preserved 
from  its  debasing  influence  by  the  popularity  of  mate 
(Paraguay  tea)  as  a stimulating  beverage. 

As  in  the  campaign  against  intoxicants,  so  in  other  social- 
izing enterprises,  the  quiet  but  penetrating  influence  of 
the  United  States  is  manifest.  The  northern  half  of  Latin 
America,  of  course,  because  of  its  proximity  to  the  United 
States,  quickly  absorbs,  by  a species  of  social  osmosis,  the 
fluid  contents  of  all  the  processes  of  amelioration,  select- 
ing those  elements  best  adapted  to  its  own  special  environ- 
ment. The  material  contact  is  so  close  that  absorption  is 
almost  as  inevitable  as  a law  of  nature. 

But  in  the  southern  half  of  Latin  America,  also,  in  spite 
of  the  local  attitude  toward  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  the 
feeling  of  suspicion  kept  alive  by  national  sensitiveness 
and  the  insinuations  of  European  political  and  industrial 
interests,  American  social  measures,  like  American  scien- 
tific and  commercial  improvements,  find  a ready  acceptance 
and  the  flattery  of  imitation. 

The  benefits  resulting  from  our  conferences  of  mayors 
and  governors  have  been  appreciated  in  Peru,  where  a 
Congress  of  the  mayors  of  the  country  is  to  be  held  during 
the  centennial  celebration.  Our  study  of  housing  condi- 
tions, together  with  the  investigations  proceeding  in 
England  and  Germany,  has  in  all  probability  inspired  the 
First  Habitation  Congress  which  met  in  Buenos  Aires  in 
September,  1920,  and  considered  the  relief  of  the  housing 
problem,  new  legislation  concerning  dwellings,  the  record- 
ing of  leases,  local  rent  tariffs,  the  inspection  of  dwellings, 


220 


Social  Development 


financial  measures  tending  to  facilitate  the  construction 
of  buildings,  and  the  betterment  of  rural  homes. 

HOUSING  AND  PRISON  REFORM 

Improvements,  too,  are  frequently  made  on  the  ideas 
brought  in  from  abroad.  Thus,  the  working  population 
of  the  Bangu  weaving  mills  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  has  been 
provided  with  pretty  chalets  of  the  most  perfect  sanitary 
construction;  the  employees  of  the  Fray  Bentos  factory 
of  beef  extract  live  in  a model  city  in  which  agreeable 
homes,  recreation  grounds,  and  medical  inspection  are  pro- 
vided by  the  company ; the  miners  and  administrative  force 
of  the  Chuquicamata  plant,  Chile,  enjoy  living  quarters 
and  social  conveniences  not  excelled  in  our  most  “up-to- 
date”  industrial  towns;  and  the  Widows'  Asylum  of 
Buenos  Aires,  arranged  in  a series  of  small  apartments, 
is  rented  at  an  extremely  low  figure,  and  contains  in  the 
courtyard,  as  an  additional  convenience,  an  open-air  com- 
munity kitchen.  The  proper  protection  of  minors,  prison 
reform — concerning  which  the  governor  of  the  Central 
Prison  of  Buenos  Aires  remarked  to  M.  Clemenceau,  “I 
have  seen  most  of  the  prisons  of  Europe.  Do  you  notice 
amongst  our  inmates  that  expression  of  the  tracked  beast 
which  you  find  on  all  your  prisoners?  No.  Our  inmates 
have  one  idea  only — to  begin  life  again  and  to  prepare,  this 
time,  for  success” — the  founding  of  agricultural  penal 
colonies,  such  as  that  of  “Ulloa”  in  Colombia,  the  Sunday 
“blue  laws”  recently  enacted  in  Bolivia,  typify  social 
movements  running  parallel  to  our  own,  prosecuted  with 
as  much  earnestness,  and  frequently  an  improvement  on 
our  methods  and  results. 

Nor  are  our  own  institutions,  carried  bodily  to  Latin 
America,  to  be  judged  insignificant  factors  in  the  social 
evolution  of  the  various  republics. 

Our  missionary  organizations  and  those  of  Europe  have 
their  representatives  everywhere.  In  1911,  for  example, 
there  were  19  such  societies  in  Argentina,  199  foreign 
missionaries,  189  ordained  and  unordained  native  workers, 
and  4800  communicants;  in  Chile  6 societies,  97  foreign 


Social  Development 


221 


missionaries,  124  native  workers,  and  5616  communicants; 
in  Brazil  19  societies,  244  foreign  missionaries,  364  native 
workers,  and  28,093  communicants.  The  religious  instruc- 
tion given  by  these  agencies  is  scarcely  more  important 
than  the  educational  and  social  benefits  conferred  by  them : 
and  it  may  well  be  said  that  the  torch  which  they  bear 
is  not  simply  that  of  Christianity,  but  that  of  modern 
Western  civilization.  The  missionary  hospitals,  which  form 
one  of  the  most  humanitarian  adjuncts  of  the  missionary 
settlements,  bring  new  conceptions  of  sanitation  and 
hygiene  into  the  towns  and  homes  of  Latin  America. 

SALVATION  ARMY,  THE  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  AND  THE  Y.  W.  C.  A.  IN 
LATIN  AMERICA 

Salvation  Army  stations  are  located  in  several  of  the 
populous  centers,  and,  as  at  Valparaiso,  Chile,  manage 
popular  restaurants  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  meals 
at  the  lowest  cost  possible,  and  maintain  homes  for  indigent 
men  and  women.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
are  becoming  as  solidly  established  as  in  the  United  States. 
Rio  de  Janeiro  subscribed  last  year  $120,000  (477  contos 
de  reis ) toward  a site  and  new  headquarters  for  the  local 
branch  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  which  already  has  about  2000 
members,  and  will  soon  have  more.  The  Y.  W.  C.  A.  of 
Buenos  Aires  is  progressing  so  well  that  it  has  moved  into 
a new  building  and  is  extending  its  services  in  all  direc- 
tions, offering  practical  classes,  setting  up  a cafeteria,  pro- 
viding sleeping  accommodations,  assisting  travelers,  and 
seeking  employment  for  applicants. 

Since,  in  harmony  with  the  American  or  British  genius, 
each  institution  erected  abroad  is  nothing  more  than  a 
transplantation  of  a home  institution,  or,  even  more  truly, 
of  a piece  of  the  native  land  impregnated  with  American 
or  British  customs,  manners,  and  methods,  and  not  a new 
entity  created  out  of  the  foreign  environment  in  which 
it  is  placed,  it  follows  that  those  who  come  in  contact  with 
the  institution  are  infallibly  Americanized  or  European- 
ized in  the*  course  of  time.  The  younger  generation  which 
frequents  the  Y,  M.  C.  A.  and  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  cannot 


222 


Social  Development 


help  imbibing  a fondness  for  athletics,  regular  bathing, 
wholesome  living,  and  decent  speech,  and  in  some  measure 
introducing  those  tastes  into  its  home  and  neighborhood 
circle. 

Fortunately,  neither  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  nor  the  Y.  W.  C.  A. 
can  be  charged  with  political  motives,  such  as  are  some- 
times— erroneously  and  unjustly,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
present  writer — attributed  to  the  Pan  American  Union; 
and  its  progress  is  wholly  dependent  on  the  social  services 
which  it  can  render. 

Granted  that  these  and  similar  social  improvements  and 
reforms  are  current  in  Latin  America,  grave  doubts  never- 
theless beset  the  investigator.  How  sincere  are  the  states- 
men in  their  programmes?  How  capable  are  the  people 
of  conforming  to  new  standards?  Is  the  talk  of  controlling 
the  social  vices,  uplifting  the  poorer  classes,  protecting 
the  children,  “cleaning  up”  in  general  mere  oratory,  or, 
what  is  just  as  bad,  hallucination?  Is  the  pointed  comment 
of  Mr.  J.  0.  P.  Bland,  an  experienced  English  traveler 
with  a style  and  a criticism  of  life  which  lift  his  Men,  Man- 
ners and  Morals  in  South  America  high  above  the  great 
majority  of  works  on  Latin  America,  to  be  taken  as  gospel? 

While  the  Legislature  [of  Uruguay,  remarks  Mr.  Bland]  with 
its  noble  head  in  the  clouds  and  its  hands  (some  of  them,  at  all 
events)  in  the  public  till,  produces  model  statutes  concerning  the 
eight-hour  day,  old  age  pensions,  the  repos  liebdomadaire,  com- 
pulsory education,  and  benefits  of  all  kinds  for  organised  labour, 
the  fundamental  business  of  stimulating  agricultural  production, 
and  of  protecting  the  peon  and  the  cliacreros,  producers  of  the 
nation’s  wealth,  advances  but  seldom  beyond  the  region  of  sterile 
academics  and  the  appointment  of  ever-increasing  inspectors, 
commissions  and  battening  bureaucrats. 

Englishmen  writing  about  Latin  America,  that  immense 
field  for  British  investments,  are  not  wont  to  be  so  skeptical 
and  blunt  concerning  Latin  American  idiosyncrasies. 

At  first  blush,  an  attitude  of  Yoltairean  doubt  appears 
to  be  the  only  safe  procedure  for  the  unfamiliar  way- 
farer in  Latin  American  affairs.  The  social  programmes, 
like  the  constitutions,  of  the  Latin  American  republics 
seem  too  perfect,  too  complete.  The  reforms  agreed  to  by 


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223 


the  Constitutional  Convention  of  Mexico,  which  met  at 
Queretaro  during  December,  1916,  and  January,  1917, 
afford  a beautiful  illustration  of  the  all-embracing  charac- 
ter of  some  Latin  American  social  movements. 

Under  the  terms  of  the  constitutional  reforms  of  1917, 
numerous  changes  of  the  most  vital  consequence  have  been 
enacted  in  the  social  and  political  life  of  Mexico. 

Only  Mexican  citizens  may  acquire  landed  properties 
or  secure  mining  concessions.  Education  is  compulsory  up 
to  the  age  of  15  years.  The  church  schools  are  abolished. 
Industrial  companies  situated  at  a distance  from  towns 
must  maintain  on  their  own  grounds  schools  for  the  chil- 
dren of  their  employees.  The  large  landed  estates  are  to 
be  subdivided,  and  purchasers  are  to  be  enabled  to  acquire 
land  by  long-term  installments.  All  mineral  resources  be- 
long to  the  nation.  No  religious  organization  can  hold 
title  to  landed  or  other  property.  Ministers  other  than 
native-born  Mexicans  cannot  exercise  their  calling.  The 
working-day  shall  be  of  eight  hours  duration,  and  there 
shall  be  one  day  of  rest  during  the  week.  Children  may 
not  be  employed  for  more  than  six  hours  a day.  A 
minimum  wage  is  fixed.  The  right  to  strike  is  recognized, 
but  only  after  10  days’  notice  has  been  given  to  the  Com- 
mission of  Conciliation  and  Arbitration.  Free  municipal 
employment  bureaus  are  provided  for.  Compensation  for 
accidents  in  industrial  establishments  is  obligatory.  The 
social  welfare  of  the  workingman  must  be  looked  after  by 
the  provision  of  sanitary  living  quarters,  hospitals,  com- 
munity centers,  and  abstention  from  the  sale  of  liquors  in 
buildings  or  on  grounds  devoted  to  recreation. 

The  general  public  in  the  United  States  will  quite 
naturally  laugh  at  this  idealistic  programme.  Not  that 
any  item  in  it  is  impossible  of  execution,  however,  for 
practically  every  one  of  the  measures  mentioned  has  been 
made  an  accomplished  fact  in  the  United  States.  But  that 
Mexico,  of  all  nations,  should  believe  itself  capable  of  effect- 
ing these  far-reaching  changes  seems  absolutely  pre- 
posterous. The  spoils  system,  in  the  minds  of  most  Amer- 
icans, is  too  deep-rooted  and  the  people  too  ignorant  ever 


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Social  Development 


to  permit  even  an  approximation  to  the  fulfillment  of  this 
really  admirable  and  progressive  social  programme. 

Nevertheless,  at  least  once  in  the  history  of  Mexico,  just 
such  steps  were  taken  to  draw  the  country  out  of  the 
slough  of  medievalism,  and  they  were  highly  successful. 

During  the  thirty  years’  rule  of  Porfirio  Diaz  (1877- 
1880  and  1884-1911),  sanitation  became  an  article  of  the 
political  creed,  the  Valley  of  Mexico  was  drained,  and 
plague-stricken  towns  were  transformed  into  thriving, 
healthful  cities.  Industry  was  fostered,  foreign  investments 
encouraged,  and  the  wonderful  national  resources  opened 
up.  Railroads  multiplied.  Mills  were  constructed.  A 
strong  police  force  for  the  cities  and  the  rural  districts 
was  recruited  and  trained  in  discipline  and  efficiency.  The 
Indians  and  mestizos,  to  whom  Diaz  was  bound  by  ties 
of  blood,  became  prominent  in  government  and  industry. 
Honesty  of  a high  quality  actually  marked  the  operations 
of  public  servants,  due  to  the  modern  system  of  accounting 
introduced  by  Diaz  and  to  the  responsibility  placed  on 
heads  of  departments.  The  public  school  attendance  had 
risen  from  160,003  in  1876  for  schools  of  all  classes  to 
nearly  800,000  in  1907  for  the  public  primary  schools  alone. 
Normal  and  higher  schools  were  created  in  large  numbers 
and  in  accordance  with  the  most  modern  ideas.  Mexico 
enjoyed  an  international  respect  which  had  never  before 
been  vouchsafed  to  it.  The  Diaz  regime  finally  fell  before 
the  attacks  of  Madero,  who  demanded  more  radical  social 
reforms,  but  it  had  proved  over  a long  course  of  years 
that  the  supposedly  impossible  was  possible  under  strong 
leadership. 

The  improvements  more  recently  contemplated  are  not 
inherently  of  such  a nature  as  to  preclude  success,  given 
adequate  leadership  or  a genuine  public  opinion.  Many 
of  them  have  been  translated  into  such  thorough  actualities 
that  foreign  interests,  whose  former  advantages  have  been 
jeopardized  by  the  national  reforms,  are  viewing  with 
considerable  alarm  the  spread  of  these  social  tendencies, 
called  progressive  or  radical,  depending  on  the  point  of 
view  of  the  speaker. 


Social  Development 


225 


THE  TRANSITION  FROM  INDIVIDUALISM  TO  SOCIAL  REGULATION 

The  history  of  the  assuredly  stable  governments  in  Latin 
America,  such  as  those  of  Argentina,  Chile,  Uruguay,  and 
Brazil  has  been,  indeed,  a steady  transformation  from  indi- 
vidual, arbitrary  power  toward  democracy  and  social  ref- 
ormation. In  those  countries,  the  age  of  dictators  is  over. 
The  real  danger  now  is  in  the  opposite  extreme — demagogic 
democracy  and  radical  socialism. 

The  president  of  Uruguay  has  been  elected  by  the  direct 
vote  of  the  people:  the  president  of  Argentina,  by  the 
radical  elements  of  the  population.  Voting  is  both  com- 
pulsory and  secret  in  Argentina,  and  a fine  is  imposed  for 
non-compliance  with  this  civic  duty.  Labor  and  capital 
are  opposed  to  each  other  in  a way  not  understood  by  that 
old  centaur,  Madariaga,  in  the  Four  Horsemen  of  the 
Apocalypse.  Where  formerly  the  politicians  and  states- 
men of  Uruguay  paid  scant  heed  to  the  wishes  or  needs 
of  the  workingman,  now  there  is  the  greatest  alacrity  in 
insisting  on  the  forty-eight  hour  week — a significant  change 
of  front.  President  Alfredo  Gonzalez  of  Costa  Rica  sincerely 
tried  to  assign  to  the  large  landholders  a more  equitable 
share  in  the  public  burdens  by  a revised  system  of  taxa- 
tion, and,  of  course,  was  ousted  from  his  position  by  the 
still  powerful  conservatives.  Each  year  sees  a larger  num- 
ber of  popular  representatives  seated  in  most  of  the  Latin 
American  legislatures  and  a larger  number  of  bills  affect- 
ing the  mass  of  the  people  introduced  at  legislative 
assemblies. 

To  deny  that  social  and  political  progress  can  thrive 
in  Latin  America  is  to  arrogate  wisdom  to  ourselves,  to 
refuse  to  believe  that  earnest  thinkers  can  exist  below  the 
Rio  Grande,  and  to  be  blind  to  the  vicissitudes  to  which 
some  of  our  most  cherished  social  measures  are  subject. 
On  one  of  these  points,  the  testimony  of  M.  Clemenceau  is 
again  exceedingly  valuable.  Discussing  the  Pan  American 
Congress  which  met  at  Buenos  Aires  during  the  Argentine 
centenary,  he  observes : 


226 


Social  Development 


With  the  sole  exception  of  Bolivia,  every  republic  of  South 
America  sent  a representative  to  the  palace  of  the  Congress  to 
discuss  their  common  interests— an  imposing  assembly,  which  in 
the  dignity  of  its  debates  can  bear  comparison  with  any  Upper 
Chamber  of  the  Continent  of  Europe.  For  my  part,  I sought 
in  vain  for  one  of  those  excitable  natures,  ever  ripe  for  explo- 
sion— the  fruit,  according  to  tradition,  of  equatorial  soil.  I found 
only  jurisconsults,  historians,  men  of  letters  or  of  science,  giving 
their  opinions  in  courteous  language,  whose  example  might  with 
advantage  be  followed  by  many  an  orator  in  the  Old  Continent. 

Some  of  our  own  social  reforms,  such  as  equal  suffrage 
rights  for  negroes,  liquor  prohibition,  the  adjustment  be- 
tween capital  and  labor,  the  enforcement  of  child-labor 
laws,  pension  provisions,  are  neither  so  universally  nor  so 
perfectly  applied  in  the  United  States  as  to  justify  us  in 
belittling  the  efforts  of  nations  to  whom  independence  has 
been  known  for  less  than  a hundred  years,  and  democracy 
not  more  than  fifty. 

Before  ridiculing  the  framing  of  beautiful,  idealistic 
laws  and  regulations  which  seem  impossible  of  accomplish- 
ment, it  would  not  be  out  of  place  for  us  to  glance  at  some 
of  the  thousands  of  laws  and  measures  annually  or 
biennially  proposed  in  our  State  legislatures  for  the  better- 
ment of  society,  and,  fortunately,  never  getting  any  further 
than  the  paper  they  are  written  on  or  the  wasteful  debates 
to  which  they  give  rise. 

Real  social  progress,  at  best,  is  slow  everywhere:  but 
it  is  slower  in  agricultural  districts  than  in  urban  centers. 
We  may  expect  it  to  be  reasonably  rapid  in  Latin  American 
cities  and  dilatory  in  the  vast  agricultural  regions,  which 
make  up  the  greater  part  of  Latin  American  territory. 


CHAPTER  X 


PUBLIC  ENLIGHTENMENT  AND  EDUCATION 

Under  Spanish  and  Portuguese  colonial  rule,  the  advan- 
tages of  a truly  enlightened  public  seemed  more  than  doubt- 
ful. The  principle  that  a large  proportion  of  the  taxes 
of  each  community  should  be  employed  in  eradicating 
ignorance  and  stimulating  intellectual  development  was 
practically  unknown.  The  cost  of  colonial  administration 
was  high,  and  the  revenues  collected  through  the  ingenious 
and  complicated  system  of  taxes  in  vogue  scarcely  sufficed 
for  local  needs  and  for  the  share  appertaining  to  the 
Spanish  or  Portuguese  crown.  The  first  centuries  of 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  domination  in  Latin  America 
frankly  constituted  an  age  of  exploitation  of  natural  and 
human  resources. 

Education  was  not,  to  be  sure,  entirely  neglected.  The 
Jesuits  were  indefatigable  in  their  efforts  to  raise  the  native 
Indians  from  the  low  plane  of  ignorance  and  superstition 
on  which  most  of  them  lived.  They  founded  schools  in 
the  populated  districts  and  in  the  isolated,  remote  spaces, 
taught,  as  in  Paraguay,  many  of  the  accomplishments  of 
civilization  to  their  untutored  wards,  and,  in  America,  as 
elsewhere,  earned  that  reputation  for  superior  skill  in  teach- 
ing which  they  still  maintain  in  their  admirable  colleges 
not  only  of  Brazil  and  other  Latin  American  republics, 
but  also  of  the  United  States. 

Yet  neither  the  Jesuits  nor  the  Church  as  a whole  con- 
ceived of  public  enlightment  in  its  multiple  phases  from 
the  point  of  view  which  obtains  to-day  among  most  nations. 
The  existence  of  a genuine  public  opinion  and  the  prospect 
of  the  settlement  of  the  fate  of  nations  by  an  appeal  to 
the  public  intelligence  never  entered  their  minds,  nor  could 
have  done  so  at  that  time.  They,  and,  to  a higher  degree 

227 


228  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 


than  is  usually  admitted,  the  Government,  felt  it  a moral 
and  religious  obligation  to  overcome  the  brutish  character- 
istics of  the  Indians  by  some  education  and  to  try  to 
fashion  the  natives  into  the  semblance  of  civilized  human 
beings : but  for  that  work,  the  rudiments  sufficed. 

HIGHER  EDUCATION  UNDER  THE  ANCIENT  REGIME 

As  was  natural  in  an  aristocratic  age,  the  higher  insti- 
tutions of  learning  long  overshadowed  in  importance  any- 
thing that  was  done  for  the  common  people. 

Eight  universities  had  been  established  in  Latin  America 
before  the  foundation  of  Harvard  College  in  1636.  Two 
of  them,  the  University  of  Shu  Pablo  in  Mexico  and  that 
of  San  Marcos  in  Lima,  were  created  in  1551  and  the 
University  of  Santo  Domingo  in  1558.  Mexico,  as  the  center 
of  Spanish  influence  and  culture,  could  pride  itself  on 
seven  institutions  of  higher  education  by  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  in  which  chairs  or  schools  of  divinity, 
medicine,  and  surgery  were  included : and  these  institutions 
followed  as  their  models  the  European  universities  of  the 
day. 

The  members  of  the  upper  classes  of  society,  when  unable 
or  unwilling  to  send  their  children  to  the  mother-country 
to  complete  their  education,  had  good  educational  facilities 
of  a general  character  at  hand  in  the  principal  cities  of 
the  New  World,  though  the  course  of  study  was,  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  say,  strongly  marked  by  theological 
tendencies. 

Throughout  the  eighteenth  century,  the  universities  in- 
creased in  number,  but  with  little  change  in  aims  and  ideals. 
The  modern  notion  of  the  higher  education  made  no  per- 
ceptible progress  until  well  into  the  first  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Even  in  the  smaller  countries  like  Porto 
Rico,  the  more  pretentious  institutos  and  colcgios  multiplied 
at  the  expense  of  popular  education,  but  were  supported 
by  the  parents  of  the  students.  The  children  of  poor 
parents  had  to  depend  on  benevolent  men  and  women, 
such  as  the  celebrated  cigar-maker  and  teacher,  Rafael 
Cordero,  for  their  instruction,  and  it  was  only  toward 


Public  Enlightenment  and  Education  229 

1880  that  General  Despujol  formulated  his  plan  of  elemen- 
tary education,  as  the  result  of  which  25,000  pupils  were 
within  a few  years  enjoying  the  benefits  of  public  schools 
maintained  by  the  municipalities. 

PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  RECENT  DATE 

That  date  (1880)  corresponds  nearly  with  the  effective 
beginnings  of  common  school  education  in  Latin  America. 
Practically  no  Latin  American  public  school  system  goes 
back  further  than  fifty  years  from  the  present  time.  What- 
ever has  been  accomplished  is  extremely  recent : and  so 
much  has  been  accomplished  that  our  traditional  belief  in 
the  apathy  of  the  Latin  American  character  needs  to  be 
modified  in  one  more  direction. 

The  causes  of  the  delay  in  joining  the  modern  educational 
world  are  many  and  include  systematic  neglect  by  the 
Spanish  government,  the  unfavorable  attitude  of  the 
Church  toward  purely  secular  education,  a medieval  con- 
ception of  the  social  worth  of  the  masses,  economic  and 
political  conditions  following  independence,  lack  of  means 
of  communication  and  the  consequent  isolation,  and  the 
large  Indian  population  in  several  republics  slow  to 
habituate  itself  to  school  training. 

The  significant  point  is  that  the  American  and  European 
regard  for  popular  education  has  at  length  triumphed  in 
Latin  America  and  that  the  change  is  coincident  with  the 
entrance  of  most  of  the  republics  on  a new  era  in  com- 
mercial, industrial,  political,  and  social  evolution. 

The  educational  transformation  is  being  achieved  mainly 
through  the  application  of  the  two  great  principles  which 
impose  equal  duties  on  the  state  and  the  individual : namely, 
that  education  shall  be  free  and  that  attendance  at  school 
shall  be  compulsory.  These  principles  have  been  incor- 
porated into  the  laws  of  practically  all  the  Latin  American 
countries,  though  in  a few,  as  in  Colombia,  primary  educa- 
tion is  free,  but  not  obligatory.  From  our  own  early 
experience  in  enforcing  the  laws  for  compulsory  attendance, 
we  may  assume  that  only  in  the  most  favored  republics 
is  the  compulsory  regulation  applied  with  strictness  and 


230  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 

that,  perhaps,  it  would  be  almost  impossible  to  carry  out 
the  law  with  rigor  on  account  of  topographical  conditions 
and  the  agricultural  pursuits  of  the  majority  of  the  in- 
habitants. The  establishment  and  functioning  of  schools 
in  cities  offer  little  difficulty:  in  the  rural  districts  any- 
where in  the  world  they  become  a real  problem. 

The  development  of  education  from  the  top  downwards 
was  the  fundamental  defect  of  all  the  Latin  American 
republics — as  it  was  in  all  the  Latin  countries  of  Europe, 
and  indeed,  of  all  the  countries  of  the  world — with  the 
possible  exception  of  Argentina,  where  much  attention  was 
paid  to  primary  instruction  from  comparatively  early  days. 
Accompanying  that  vicious  course  was  the  perfectly 
natural  tendency  to  concentrate  all  educational  effort  on 
the  cities  or  larger  towns,  since  the  returns  from  a given 
expenditure  of  money  could  be  more  readily  noticed,  since 
some  education  was  essential  for  persons  exposed  to  foreign 
contact  and  living  a community  life  requiring  a knowledge 
of  reading,  writing,  and  simple  arithmetical  operations, 
and  since  the  demand  for  education  in  the  more  densely 
populated  centers  is  not  easily  denied. 

The  growth  of  democracy  in  Latin  America  during  the 
past  fifty  years  and  the  example  of  the  United  States, 
England,  France,  and  Germany  have  reversed  the  process 
of  development,  placing  the  foundation  of  public  education 
among  the  people,  applying  to  it  the  largest  share  of  the 
money  used  for  educational  ends,  and  relegating  the  uni- 
versities to  the  position  of  a subsidiary  branch,  and  not 
the  main  artery  through  which  governmental  educational 
effort  is  directed. 

Between  1894  and  1914,  the  primary  school  attendance 
in  Argentina  increased  from  280,000  to  900,000.  In  1918 
the  Province  of  Buenos  Aires  alone  had  1720  primary 
schools,  with  a total  enrollment  of  214,233  pupils,  of  whom 
113,790  were  boys  and  100,433  girls,  and  a corps  of  5624 
teachers,  5148  of  whom  were  women.  The  number  of 
private  schools  in  the  Province  was  over  300,  and  the 
matriculation  nearly  30,000.  By  the  end  of  1913,  318,000 
children  were  attending  the  primary  public  schools  of 


Public  Enlightenment  and  Education  231 

Chile,  and  61,000,  private  schools  of  the  same  grade. 
Ecuador,  in  1916,  furnished  elementary  public  instruction 
to  98,400  pupils;  in  1917  Uruguay  had  about  100,000  in 
its  public  schools;  from  1876  to  1891,  under  President  Diaz, 
the  total  school  attendance  of  Mexico  had  risen  from  160,- 
000  to  649,771;  in  three  years  (1916-1919),  largely  due 
to  the  interest  taken  in  public  education  by  the  Military 
Government  instituted  by  the  United  States,  the  public 
school  enrollment  of  the  Dominican  Republic  has  grown 
from  18,000  to  nearly  100,000 ; in  1916  the  school  attend- 
ance of  Peru  was  close  to  175,000. 

Considering  the  small  population  of  most  of  the  coun- 
tries mentioned,  the  brief  period  in  which  public  education 
has  acquired  significance,  and  the  difficulties  which  the 
spread  of  education  must  overcome  in  the  vast  agricultural 
regions  of  Latin  America,  the  results  obtained  may  be 
regarded  as  nothing  short  of  remarkable,  and  exceedingly 
promising  for  the  future. 

Travelers  will  continue,  to  be  sure,  to  return  with  highly 
colored  accounts  of  the  benighted  condition  of  the 
“natives,”  just  as  American  businessmen,  in  utter 
ignorance  of  the  facts,  are  deploring  a great  falling  off 
in  our  trade  with  Latin  America,  whereas  in  reality  it  has, 
at  least  down  to  1920,  inclusive,  actually  increased  both  in 
exports  and  imports ; but  the  educational  progress  of  Latin 
America  will  not  on  that  account  come  to  a halt,  nor  the 
fact  that  Argentina,  for  example,  has  during  the  past 
generation  spent  more  per  capita  in  the  education  of  her 
children  than  any  country  in  the  world  except  Australia, 
as  the  Rev.  Dr.  Zahm  points  out,  lose  importance. 

EDUCATIONAL  ZONES 

The  educational  field  in  Latin  America  may  readily  be 
divided  into  zones,  according  to  the  amount  of  progress 
achieved  or  realizable  in  the  near  future. 

Argentina,  Chile,  and  Uruguay  merit  a rank  not  much 
below  that  of  the  more  advanced  countries  of  Europe  or 
the  United  States,  and  above  that  of  Spain,  Portugal, 
Greece,  and  most  of  the  Slavic  countries.  Near  them  may 


232  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 

be  placed  several  Brazilian  states,  and  in  particular  the 
State  of  Sao  Paulo,  though  other  states  do  not  as  yet  fall 
within  this  first  zone  on  account  of  the  keen  conflict  be- 
tween States’  rights  and  Federal  control  and  the  slower 
advancement  of  modern  thought  in  the  sparsely  settled 
interior  districts.  The  Caribbean  republics,  because  of  their 
proximity  to  the  United  States,  form  a second  zone,  in 
which  Cuba  and  Costa  Rica  stand  out  educationally  above 
Mexico,  the  other  Central  American  and  West  Indian  coun- 
tries, Colombia,  and  Venezuela.  The  rest  of  South  America 
constitutes  a third  zone  of  uneven  character,  depending 
on  distance  from  the  coast,  extent  of  territory,  and  racial 
admixture. 

In  all  three  zones,  the  influence  of  the  educational  system 
of  the  United  States  on  the  public  schools  is  stronger  than 
that  of  any  other  country,  though  the  higher  education 
generally  patterns  after  the  secondary  schools  and  uni- 
versities of  one  or  another  of  the  European  countries. 

The  public  school  system  of  Argentina  is  a direct  out- 
growth of  contact  with  American  institutions  and  Amer- 
ican educators.  It  was  inaugurated  by  President  Domingo 
Sarmiento,  who,  as  the  Argentine  minister  at  Washington, 
became  an  enthusiastic  partisan  of  the  democratic  nature 
of  the  American  public  school  and,  between  1868  and  1874, 
while  chief  magistrate  of  his  own  country,  introduced  the 
salient  features  of  American  instruction  into  Argentina. 
Sarmiento ’s  personal  admiration  for  Horace  Mann  and 
his  friendship  with  that  great  educator  undoubtedly 
strengthened  his  belief  in  the  American  common  school 
system.  During  his  presidency,  the  foundation  of  public 
education  in  Argentina  was  laid,  and  the  most  important 
principles  evolved.  The  changes  made  later  have  affected 
only  details. 

Educational  Progressiveness  of  Argentina 

As  planned  by  Sarmiento  and  as  carried  out  in  subse- 
quent reforms,  the  school  system  of  Argentina  contains  all 
the  elements  to  which  we  are  accustomed  in  the  United 


Public  Enlightenment  and  Education  233 

States,  including  primary,  secondary,  and  normal  schools 
and  institutions  for  professional  and  technical  studies. 
Education  is  compulsory  between  the  ages  of  six  and  four- 
teen, free,  and  universal.  All  the  common  branches  are 
taught,  the  texts  are  prepared  by  expert  teachers  and, 
wherever  possible,  emphasize  the  spirit  of  patriotism,  the 
tone  of  the  instruction  given  is  liberal,  and  none  of  the 
experiments  carried  on  in  foreign  countries  is  refused  a 
trial.  A special  endeavor  is  made  to  provide  for  the  ade- 
quate instruction  of  defective  and  abnormal  children,  the 
children  of  immigrants,  and  weak  children  who  need  the 
benefits  of  the  open  air  and  more  individual  attention  than 
can  be  allowed  in  the  ordinary  class-room.  Elementary 
night-schools  for  adults  and  for  working  people  are  to  be 
found  in  most  of  the  industrial  centers.  Personal  hygiene 
receives  careful  treatment,  thrift  is  encouraged,  campaigns 
are  carried  on  against  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  At 
the  noon  hour,  each  school  child  is  given  a glass  of  milk, 
and  the  practice  has  developed  into  a fixed  tradition. 

All  that  remains  to  Argentina  now  is  to  extend  the  ad- 
vantages of  public  education  to  every  illiterate  person  in 
the  republic:  and  this  it  is  doing  with  the  same  zeal  that 
marks  the  educational  policy  of  the  United  States.  Its 
educational  budget  is  heavy,  the  primary  schools  being 
maintained  out  of  the  provincial  treasuries,  with  Federal 
aid,  when  necessary,  its  personnel  well-trained  and  zealous, 
and  its  leaders,  such  as  Dr.  Ernesto  Nelson,  thoroughly 
conversant  with  the  best  educational  theory  and  practice 
of  the  United  States,  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Germany. 

The  highest  tribute  paid  to  public  education  in  Argen- 
tina is  found  in  the  readiness  with  which  even  the  children 
of  the  higher  classes  attend  the  public  schools.  Though 
private  schools  are  numerous,  practically  no  feelings  of 
invidious  distinction  militate  against  the  public  schools. 
Parents  who  prefer  the  private  schools  are  moved  by  the 
same  considerations  which  induce  many  parents  in  the 
United  States  to  send  their  children  to  private  institutions. 

Chile  is  proverbially  known  among  the  Latin  American 
republics  as  the  country  most  deeply  imbued  with  aristo- 


234  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 

cratic  preoccupations  and  most  completely  ruled  by  a 
powerful  group  of  families  which  is  in  possession  of  the 
great  landed  estates  and  of  many  of  the  most  important 
industries.  A rigid  sense  of  caste,  the  coherence  of  junk- 
erdom,  and  an  unfailing  bent  toward  centralization  have 
kept  Chile  conservative  and  “Tory”  in  spite  of  the  efforts 
of  an  occasional  president  like  Balmaceda  to  break  down 
the  walls  of  tradition  and  let  in  liberal  political  and  re- 
ligious ideas. 

In  educational  affairs,  the  customary  Chilean  traits  of 
opposition  to  a genuinely  democratic  system — “customary 
traits”  in  the  sense,  of  course,  that  they  represent  the 
inclinations  of  the  dominant  oligarchy — have  often  been 
commented  upon.  Mr.  Robert  E.  Speer,  representing  con- 
ditions some  years  back  (1912),  declares  that  “The  Chilean 
educational  system  in  all  its  branches  is  national  in  scope 
and  organization — that  is  to  say,  is  maintained  by  the 
national  treasury.  No  local  taxes  are  levied  for  educational 
purposes,  and  the  local  authorities  have  no  voice  in  the 
administration  of  or  control  over  the  system.  ” Theoret- 
ically, this  has  been  true  in  the  past : but  it  has  not  been 
true  in  significant  details  of  late. 

To-day,  the  provincial  governments  are  providing  nearly 
all  the  funds  for  public  instruction,  the  budget  passed  by 
the  Chilean  Congress  for  the  year  1915-16  carrying  less 
than  one  per  cent  of  the  sum  devoted  to  public  education 
in  that  period.  The  local  authorities,  far  from  being  mere 
figureheads,  have,  by  the  law  promulgated  August  26,  1920, 
been  invested  with  the  duty  of  fulfilling  compliance  with 
the  terms  of  that  law,  which,  by  action  of  the  Congress 
and  the  President,  establishes  compulsory  primary  instruc- 
tion in  very  definite  terms  and  in  a spirit  of  thoroughly 
modern  liberalism.  If  consistently  enforced,  these  regula- 
tions should  soon  put  Chile  beyond  the  stigma  of  having 
only  two  classes — the  upper  and  middle  educated  class  and 
the  lower,  uneducated  class.  Obviously,  in  any  democratic 
country,  there  must  be  an  educated  lower  class,  also. 


Public  Enlightenment  and  Education  235 


CHANGING  IDEALS  IN  CHILEAN  EDUCATION 

Hitherto,  primary  instruction  has  been  free,  but  not 
compulsory,  in  Chile.  The  law  of  1920  prescribes  that 
elementary  education  provided  by  the  State  and  the 
municipalities  shall  be  free;  that  all  education,  whether 
given  in  public  or  in  private  schools  shall  be  compulsory 
up  to  the  age  of  thirteen;  that  “minors  who  have  reached 
the  age  of  13  without  passing  the  first  two  grades  of 
primary  instruction  must  continue  at  school  until  after 
approval  in  the  regular  annual  examinations,  or  up  to  the 
age  of  15  years”;  that  poverty  does  not  exempt  minors 
from  attending  school;  that  no  minors  under  16  years  of 
age  shall  be  employed  in  the  industries  unless  they  have 
complied  with  the  law  of  compulsory  education;  and  that 
boards  of  education  shall  be  established  in  each  commune 
to  enforce  these  and  other  measures  decreed  in  behalf  of 
public  education.  Coeducation,  while  not  common  in  Chile 
above  the  first  two  grades  of  the  primary  scllool,  tends  to 
become  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception  in  the  schools 
of  higher  instruction. 

The  ambition  to  have  a school  system  as  good  as  that 
of  its  Spanish  neighbors  and  similar  in  most  respects  to 
the  educational  organization  of  its  admired  and  respected 
friend  in  the  North,  the  United  States,  has  led  the  central 
government  of  Brazil  to  take  steps  putting  it  sometimes  at 
variance  with  the  State  governments  and  their  strong  sense 
of  States’  rights. 

Thus,  in  1911,  a Federal  Board  of  Education  was  granted 
authority  to  establish  elementary  schools  in  the  different 
states:  and  such  action,  though  appearing  to  give  the 
national  government  a power  which  does  not  constitu- 
tionally belong  to  it,  is  scarcely  likely  to  be  seriously  con- 
tested in  the  States  which  have  themselves  been  unable  to 
provide  sufficient  educational  facilities. 

The  progressive  States,  such  as  Sao  Paulo,  show  a most 
commendable  eagerness  to  align  themselves  with  the  most 
wide-awake  countries,  and  display  unusual  generosity  in 
their  educational  budgets  and  their  provisions  for  build- 


236  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 

ings,  equipment,  and  teachers.  Other  states,  which  must 
lag  behind  for  a time  and  can  neither  compel  attendance 
nor  make  instruction  free  in  all  respects,  may  now  count 
on  assistance  from  the  national  government,  particularly 
in  matters  pertaining  to  agricultural  and  technical  schools. 
As  immigration  increases  and  the  force  of  the  example  set 
by  the  more  advanced  states  acquires  strength,  these  back- 
ward regions  will  indubitably  approximate  the  educational 
ideals  held  by  the  leading  states. 

In  all  large  countries  in  which  local  autonomy  is  a recog- 
nized principle,  great  divergences  are  sure  to  be  noted : but 
the  attractive  power  of  the  most  energetic  and  advanced 
districts  inevitably  raises  the  standards  of  the  weaker  dis- 
tricts. As  the  statistical  charts  prepared  by  the  Russell 
Sage  Foundation  show,  our  southern  states  have,  in  almost 
every  item  of  school  progress,  remained  much  below  the 
efficiency  of  the  northern  and  western  states.  The  con- 
sciousness of  this  inferiority,  aroused  by  comparative 
statistics,  while  not  precisely  palatable  to  southern  citizens, 
has  proved  one  of  the  keenest  spurs  to  educational  improve- 
ment in  the  South.  Intersectional  rivalry  has  been  one 
of  our  most  valuable  instruments  of  progress  and  is  likely 
to  be  particularly  effective  in  countries  of  Spanish  and 
Portuguese  origin,  where  the  feeling  of  regional  patriotism 
runs  high  without  the  slightest  need  of  stimulation. 

Situated  between  the  United  States,  whose  educational 
influence  is  extending  southward  with  rapidity,  and  the 
advanced  republics  of  South  America,  few  of  the  inter- 
vening countries  can  long  remain  deaf  to  the  voice  of 
modern  educational  practice.  Even  the  sleepiest  and  most 
doctrinaire  among  them  are  dropping  the  theoretical  edu- 
cation of  the  past  and  laying  stress  on  the  practical  phases 
of  education  developed  in  the  United  States  and  Europe. 

The  typical  course  of  study  in  Latin  America  closely 
approaches  our  own.  The  Three  R’s,  history,  geography, 
singing,  drawing,  the  rudiments  of  the  sciences,  and 
calisthenics  make  up  the  curriculum.  Uruguay  emphasizes 
the  inculcation  of  morality  and  requires  of  its  public  school 
children  a knowledge  of  the  Constitution  of  the  republic. 


Public  Enlightenment  and  Education  237 

Ecuador,  likewise,  believes  in  the  teaching  of  morality  and 
an  acquaintanceship  with  the  Constitution,  and  adds  the 
domestic  sciences  and  sewing  for  the  girls.  In  Costa  Rica 
the  teaching  of  agriculture  has  been  made  an  integral  part 
of  the  curriculum  of  the  rural  schools,  which  are  furnished 
with  land  and  the  necessary  implements  for  practical  work. 
Medical  and  dental  inspection  is  a regular  feature  of  the 
school  work  of  Sao  Paulo.  The  importance  of  sanitation 
has  been  strongly  impressed  on  the  school  children  of 
Guayaquil,  Ecuador,  through  the  successful  campaign 
recently  waged  on  yellow  fever  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Rockefeller  Foundation,  and  the  public  feeling  for  a gen- 
eral “clean-up”  was  kept  at  a high  pitch  through  the 
splendid  cooperation  offered  by  teachers  and  children  alike. 
The  Government  of  Guatemala  had,  before  the  war,  made 
the  study  of  English  and  French  obligatory  in  the  educa- 
tional centers,  while  in  Brazil  the  Governor  of  Sao  Paulo 
has  this  year  (1921)  recommended  that  the  teaching  of 
foreign  languages  in  the  public  schools  to  children  less 
than  ten  years  of  age  be  prohibited — a measure  evidently 
inspired  by  the  same  notives  which  caused  drastic  action 
in  the  State  of  Nebraska  against  the  teaching  of  foreign 
languages  in  any  public  school  below  the  high  school. 

Virtually  every  educational  innovation  which  has  been 
the  subject  of  experiment  in  the  United  States  and  Europe 
finds  its  way  into  some  of  the  Latin  American  schools. 

AN  IMPORTANT  EXPERIMENT  IN  MEXICO 

Influenced,  perhaps,  by  the  means  used  in  the  United 
States  during  the  war  to  train  soldiers  rapidly  and  gen- 
erally in  the  practical  use  of  French,  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment has  lately  carried  on  a campaign  against  illiteracy 
which  contains  several  novel  and  valuable  features.  A 
corps  of  honorary  teachers  has  been  created  by  the  National 
University  on  a volunteer  basis  to  carry  a knowledge  of 
the  two  principal  tests  of  literacy  to  the  thousands  of  people 
who  have  thus  far  enjoyed  no  instruction  whatsoever.  In 
the  course  of  four  months,  these  teachers,  now  numbering 
2000  and  serving  the  cause  of  education  with  a splendid 


238  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 

spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  have  taught  over  10,000  illiterates 
the  rudiments  of  reading  and  writing:  and  it  is  to  be 
presumed  that  the  efforts  of  the  Government  and  of  the 
volunteer  instructing  staff  will  be  bent  toward  strengthen- 
ing the  grasp  of  the  written  word  so  acquired  by  this 
large  number,  as  well  as  to  extend  further  the  benefits 
of  the  system. 

Though  practically  no  discussion  of  the  experiment  has 
taken  place,  it  will  readily  be  seen  by  educators  that  the 
plan  is  feasible,  inexpensive,  and  efficient.  The  teaching 
of  reading  and  writing,  if  prosecuted  intensively,  can  in 
a remarkably  short  time  convert  a whole  country  from 
illiteracy  to  literacy:  and  the  advance  made  can  be  con- 
firmed by  the  establishment  of  fixed  local  libraries,  circulat- 
ing libraries  under  the  supervision  of  the  National  Uni- 
versity or  of  the  Government,  and  the  dissemination  of 
newspapers. 

Other  strikingly  progressive  activities  may  be  noted  in 
the  educational  system  of  many  of  the  Latin  American 
republics,  and  especially  in  the  field  of  agricultural  and 
technical  training. 

The  most  marked  difference  between  our  own  educational 
programme  and  that  of  the  Latin  American  countries  re- 
sides in  the  treatment  of  secondary  education.  The  tend- 
ency in  the  United  States  is  to  make  high  school  education 
compulsory  by  raising  the  age-limit  at  which  students  may 
consider  that  they  have  completed  their  public  school  edu- 
cation. By  requiring  that  pupils  shall  attend  school  until 
they  have  reached  the  age  of  16,  many  states  have  made 
a high  school  education  practically  obligatory : and  such 
secondary  instruction  is,  of  course,  free.  The  spirit  of  the 
American  nation  is  against  closing  the  instructional  period 
until  pupils  have  reached  a fair  degree  of  mental  maturity 
and  have  had  an  opportunity  to  secure  the  foundation  of 
a liberal  or  a vocational  education.  That  ideal  has  made 
no  headway  in  Latin  America,  partly  because  the  govern- 
ments believe  that  their  oversight  of  public  instruction  must 
end  with  the  completion  of  the  primary  school  course,  and 
partly  because  the  organization  of  the  secondary  schools 


Public  Enlightenment  and  Education  239 

implies  a curriculum  which,  in  the  last  two  years,  is 
equivalent  to  our  university  studies. 

SECONDARY  EDUCATION  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

Secondary  education  in  Latin  America  is,  therefore,  not 
completely  democratic,  since  it  is  not  entirely  gratuitous 
and  is  restricted  to  students  who  are  likely  to  enter  the 
university. 

The  colegio  or  liceo,  as  the  secondary  school  is  called, 
performs  the  function  of  the  American  high  school  in  addi- 
tion to  about  the  first  two  years  in  our  universities.  Its 
course  of  study  requires  six  years,  and  is  preparatory  to 
the  professional  schools.  In  American  school  terms,  this 
means  that  the  colegio  or  liceo  covers  the  ground  of  our 
high  school  and,  besides,  that  of  the  junior  colleges,  which 
are  becoming  common  in  American  universities.  It  rep- 
resents far  more  than  the  high  school,  and  carries  the 
student  about  half  way  through  what  corresponds  to  our 
college  of  arts  and  sciences,  but  with  less  emphasis,  as  yet, 
on  the  analytical  laboratory  method  of  the  exact  sciences, 
as  pursued  in  our  colleges,  and  greater  emphasis  on  the 
humanities,  logic,  and  some  of  the  political  and  social 
sciences.  The  modern  languages  receive  special  attention, 
and  the  classical  languages,  almost  none.  For  reasons  of 
practicality  and  because  of  the  tacit  antagonism  to  Church 
instruction,  the  language  of  which  has  been  Latin,  the 
study  of  the  ancient  languages  has  long  since  dropped  out 
of  the  curricula  of  most  of  the  Latin  American  secondary 
schools:  and  the  campaign  recently  waged  against  the 
classics  in  our  high  schools,  as  purely  traditional  subjects, 
surprises  many  Latin  American  educators,  because  the 
movement  has  been  so  tardy. 

A SUGGESTION  CONCERNING  THE  ADMISSION  OF  LATIN 
AMERICAN  STUDENTS  TO  OUR  UNIVERSITIES 

The  Latin  American  graduate  of  a good  colegio  or  liceo 
should  be  entitled  to  enter  the  senior  college  of  any  Amer- 
ican university,  with,  perhaps,  the  proviso  that  he  elect 
some  laboratory  work  in  addition  to  what  he  has  done  in 


240  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 

his  own  school.  The  narrow  insistence  with  which  most 
of  our  universities  require  that  a foreigner  of  excellent 
educational  antecedents  shall  meet  our  freshman-sophomore 
requirements  to  the  letter,  or  forfeit  his  chances  of  securing 
our  university  degree,  is  unworthy  of  our  spirit  of  fair 
play  and  destructive  of  that  comity  and  cooperation  which 
should  exist  above  all  in  academic  circles. 

In  general,  secondary  education  in  Latin  America  is 
directed  and  supported  by  the  national  governments,  and 
not  by  the  municipalities.  A matriculation  fee  varying 
from  a few  dollars  to  fifteen  dollars  must  in  most  countries 
be  paid  by  the  student,  though  the  instruction  given  in  the 
liceos  is  free.  As  in  our  high  schools  of  former  years,  the 
principal  raison  d’etre  of  the  secondary  schools  is  to  pre- 
pare students  for  the  universities. 

Latin  America  has  yet  to  develop  self-contained 
secondary  schools  of  general  education  which  shall  have 
no  necessary  connection  with  the  universities  and  shall 
make  laws  for  themselves  instead  of  accepting  them  from 
the  higher  institutions. 

The  enrollment  in  the  secondary  schools  of  Latin  America, 
though  increasing  steadily,  is  only  a fractional  part  of 
the  enrollment  in  the  elementary  schools.  The  eighty  cole- 
gios  of  Argentina  have  at  present  a total  registration  of 
less  than  20,000  students  as  compared  with  the  number 
of  pupils  in  the  common  schools,  which  amounts  approxi- 
mately to  1,000,000:  the  colegios  or  liceos  of  Bolivia  had 
about  2100  students  in  1918 : those  of  Ecuador  furnished 
instruction  to  4500  students  in  1916. 

The  disproportion  between  the  enrollment  in  the  elemen- 
tary schools  and  the  enrollment  in  the  secondary  schools  is 
evidence,  not  of  indifference  to  education,  but  of  the 
natural  effect  of  an  aristocratic  educational  tradition.  On 
account  of  the  rather  advanced  age  (about  18)  at  which  the 
student  leaves  the  colegio  or  liceo,  the  early  maturity  of 
the  Latin  American  youth,  and  the  economic  pressure  on 
the  less  well-to-do  families,  it  may  be  predicted  that 
secondary  education  will  not  become  genuinely  popular 


Public  Enlightenment  and  Education  241 

until  the  school  system  is  subdivided  on  a radically  different 
plan  and  pointed  in  an  entirely  different  direction. 

The  greatest  needs  in  Latin  American  secondary  educa- 
tion are  a broader  democratic  leaning  and  greater  emphasis 
on  scientific  experimental  methods. 

EUROPEAN  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  LATIN  AMERICAN  UNI- 
VERSITIES 

After  the  primary  schools,  education  in  Latin  America 
follows  European  rather  than  American  precedents.  The 
universities  are  combinations  of  professional  “faculties,” 
the  consolidating  influence  of  the  college  of  arts  and  sciences 
is  absent,  “school  spirit”  in  the  American  sense  is  unknown, 
centrifugal  rather  than  centripetal  tendencies  mark  the 
administrative  organization  and  the  location  of  buildings, 
university  teachers  are  primarily  professional  men  and  only 
secondarily  instructors,  devoting  but  a portion  of  their  time 
to  university  work,  and  the  administrative  heads  are  chosen 
not  so  much  for  their  eminent  qualifications  as  educational 
leaders  as  for  their  prominence  in  other  respects. 

The  rector  [as  Professor  Edgar  E.  Brandon  explains]  is  a 
lawyer,  a physician,  or  a publicist,  as  are  the  professors,  and 
the  direction  of  the  university  is  secondary  to  the  practice  of 
his  profession.  As  he  usually  occupies  the  office  but  for  a short 
term  and  then  becomes  simply  one  professor  among  many,  he 
seldom  acquires  during  his  term  as  rector  any  additional  prestige. 
Moreover,  he  is  not  expected  to  become  an  educational  leader. 
He  merely  stands  at  the  head  of  his  colleagues  for  a short  time 
and  represents  them  before  the  State  and  the  public.  In  many 
different  ways  the  absence  of  a university  president  is  a distinct 
loss  in  Spanish-American  higher  education,  but  in  no  respect 
more  than  in  the  unifying  influence  he  might  exert  in  the  uni- 
versity organization. 

Concentrating  their  efforts  on  the  technical  skill  required 
in  the  professions — and  doing  this  with  a thoroughness 
worthy  of  the  best  European  traditions — the  Latin  Amer- 
ican universities  have  thus  far  had  little  concern  with  the 
formation  of  an  educated  popular  opinion.  The  general 
courses  in  history,  economics,  sociology,  political  science, 
literature,  philosophy,  which  are  the  basis  of  the  first  two 


242  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 

years’  work  in  our  colleges  and  universities  and  give  Amer- 
ican students  a knowledge  of  the  trend  of  affairs  and 
encourage  them  to  evolve  individual  opinions,  are  not 
offered  in  the  universities,  but  are  left  to  the  colegios  or 
liceos,  with  the  exception  of  the  reorganized  University  of 
La  Plata  and  a few  others,  which  include  a college  of 
philosophy  or  of  philosophy  and  arts  and  try  to  avoid 
the  specialized  professional  character  of  the  typical  Latin 
American  university. 

It  is  necessary  to  bear  these  facts  in  mind,  since  the 
multiplication  of  universities  in  the  Spanish  American  re- 
publics, and  of  professional  schools  or  “faculties”  in  Brazil, 
where  no  distinct  university  has  as  yet  been  established 
owing  to  the  jealous  regard  for  States’  rights,  is  likely  to 
leave  the  impression  that  the  Latin  American  universities, 
because  they  are  becoming  populous,  are  ipso  facto  popular, 
also.  The  chief  progress  made  in  the  direction  of  academic 
democracy  lies  in  the  free  admission  of  women  to  the 
universities  on  equal  terms  with  the  men. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  colegios  and  universities  of 
Latin  America,  still  dominated  by  continental  European 
ideals,  continue  their  exclusive  policy  and  the  scholastic 
pedagogical  methods  of  a by-gone  age  in  the  higher  learn- 
ing and  appear  to  shun  the  benefits  and  disadvantages  of 
the  opening  of  the  doors  to  everybody,  with  the  resultant 
increase  in  enrollment  and  the  patent  lowering  of  standards 
observable  in  so  many  instances  among  us,  the  assumption 
must  not  be  made  that  popular  education  in  the  higher 
branches  has  not  advanced.  In  reality,  the  higher  educa- 
tion has,  in  the  more  progressive  countries,  received  the  full 
impact  of  the  democratic  movement,  and  is  evolving  in  an- 
other direction,  closely  resembling  the  turn  taken  by 
popular  education  in  America  and  Germany  during  the 
past  generation. 

Three  classes  of  institutions  aim  at  a thoroughly  modern, 
practical  education  calculated  to  enable  their  students  to 
care  for  their  economic  needs  and  to  help  the  State  in 
developing  its  citizenship  and  its  natural  resources.  These 
are  the  normal  schools,  the  agricultural  and  technical 


Public  Enlightenment  and  Education  243 


schools,  and  the  “people’s  universities” — the  latter  exist- 
ing only  in  Argentina,  but  susceptible  of  adoption  in  the 
other  republics. 

DEVELOPMENT  OP  NORMAL  SCHOOLS 

The  normal  schools  have  become  one  of  the  most  signifi- 
cant divisions  of  the  Latin  American  school  system.  They 
date  back  no  further  than  the  past  fifty  years,  and  owe 
their  existence  mainly  to  the  endeavors  of  Sarmiento,  the 
“school-master  president”  of  Argentina,  who  took  his  cue 
from  the  United  States  and  France,  and  to  the  innovations 
more  recently  made  in  the  training  of  teachers  in  the 
United  States,  France  and  Germany.  They  are  proving, 
in  particular,  the  educational  and  economic  salvation  of 
Latin  American  womanhood,  and  may  be  said  to  have 
encouraged  women  to  enter  other  gainful  walks  of  life. 
The  progress  of  the  Latin  American  woman  is  bound  up 
with  the  extension  of  normal  schools,  since  normal  school 
graduates  undeniably  constitute  a working-class  and  tend 
to  dignify  woman’s  work  in  general. 

Seventy  normal  schools  for  primary  teachers  were  in 
operation  in  Argentina  in  1914,  with  an  enrollment  of  8970 
men  and  women.  Some  of  the  schools  are  for  men,  some 
for  women,  and  others  for  both  sexes,  though,  as  might  bo 
expected,  the  fair  sex  predominates.  As  everywhere  else, 
the  chief  purpose  of  the  normal  schools  in  Argentina  is 
to  train  teachers  for  the  elementary  schools.  The  require- 
ments are  moderate,  the  length  of  the  course  is  4 years, 
as  contrasted  with  3 years  in  Salvador,  5 in  Chile,  and  7 
in  Costa  Rica,  and  the  entering  age  is  14  years. 

These  normal  schools  of  Argentina  and  the  rest  of  Latin 
America  correspond  roughly  to  the  teacher  training  courses 
recently  established  in  our  high  schools,  but  are  of  a more 
advanced  character.  From  them,  all  over  Latin  America, 
issue  most  of  the  primary  school  teachers. 

Chile  provides  16  training  colleges  for  teachers,  ten  for 
women  and  six  for  men,  in  which  teaching  by  means  of 
object  lessons  is  the  favorite  method,  and  English  the 
favorite  foreign  language.  Their  graduates  obligate  them- 


244  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 

selves  to  teach  in  the  national  schools  for  a minimum  period 
of  seven  years,  in  return  for  which  all  their  expenses,  in- 
cluding board  and  lodging,  while  at  school  are  defrayed 
by  the  Government.  For  some  years  past,  the  National 
Educational  Association  of  Chile  has  urged  the  Government 
to  extend  its  liberal  policy  further,  by  sending  normal 
school  teachers  at  its  expense  to  foreign  countries  to  per- 
fect themselves  in  practical  and  sociological  subjects — a 
plan  already  in  vogue  in  Cuba  in  connection  with  its  normal 
school  teachers.  The  encouragement  given  to  the  training 
of  teachers  by  this  State  aid  is,  of  course,  extremely  impor- 
tant, and  the  plan  in  general  may  well  recommend  itself 
to  educational  authorities  in  the  United  States. 

Like  Argentina  and  Chile,  Uruguay  possesses  excellent 
normal  schools  for  primary  teachers. 

The  interest  in  such  pedagogical  institutions  extends 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  Latin  America, 
characterizing  Guatemala,  Nicaragua,  Cuba,  and  the  other 
Central  American  and  West  Indian  countries  as  well  as 
Colombia,  Venezuela,  Peru,  Bolivia,  Ecuador,  and  Brazil. 
So  thoroughly  convinced,  indeed,  is  the  Venezuelan  Gov- 
ernment of  the  dependence  of  proper  teaching  on  the 
normal  schools  that  it  is  stimulating  the  award  of  scholar- 
ships in  the  primary  normal  schools  by  the  various  States 
and  Territories  and  is  contemplating  the  establishment  of 
a series  of  boarding  departments  for  younger  students  to 
serve,  as  Mr.  Walter  A.  Montgomery  terms  them,  as 
"feeders”  to  the  regular  normal  school  system. 

Besides  the  primary  normal  schools,  many  of  the  Latin 
American  republics,  notably  Argentina  and  Chile,  support 
higher  normal  schools  for  the  training  of  secondary  school 
teachers,  Argentina  appears  to  be  evolving  in  the  University 
of  Buenos  Aires  and  the  University  of  La  Plata  teachers’ 
colleges  resembling  those  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
Escuela  Normal  de  Lenguas  Vivas  (Normal  School  of 
Modern  Languages)  of  Buenos  Aires  offers  a distinctive 
and  highly  efficient  training,  involving  the  teaching  of  all 
the  subjects  of  the  curriculum  and  the  handling  of  all 
classroom  work  in  the  foreign  languages,  which  might  be. 


Public  Enlightenment  and  Education  245 

copied  in  the  United  States  to  the  advantage  of  modern 
language  instruction. 

TECHNICAL  AND  VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION 

The  most  important  educational  instrumentality,  how- 
ever, employed  in  Latin  America  for  public  enlightenment 
and  the  teaching  of  genuine  democracy  is  the  system  of 
agricultural,  trade,  and  technical  schools  on  which  the  Latin 
American  governments  are  expending  an  unusual  amount 
of  energy  and  money. 

The  hey-day  of  serfdom  has  passed,  wages  have  increased, 
industrial  development  is  bringing  about  a new  conception 
of  the  necessity  and  dignity  of  labor,  and  those  who  expect 
to  work  the  natural  resources  in  the  modern  competitive 
world  must  have  adequate  scientific  preparation,  a knowl- 
edge of  technical  operations,  and  the  ability  either  to  handle 
the  necessary  tools  and  implements  or  to  show  others  how 
to  handle  them. 

Prudent  statesmen  and  social  students  in  Latin  America 
are  convinced  that  their  countries,  of  which  much  is  ex- 
pected in  the  way  of  contribution  to  the  food  supply  of 
the  world  and  in  the  direction  of  the  fostering  of  home 
industries,  must  now  make  the  transition  between  the  ancien 
regime  and  the  new  technological  order. 

Industrial  expansion  presupposes  skilled  labor  and 
trained  administrators,  and  agricultural  and  mineral  de- 
velopment requires  advanced  scientific  experience.  In  the 
more  progressive  countries,  the  great  proprietors  and  in- 
dustrials recognize  the  need  of  technical  experts,  efficient 
office  staffs,  and  capable  workmen,  and  are  lending  the 
weight  of  their  influence  to  all  the  technical  educational 
enterprises  undertaken  by  their  governments.  One  of  them, 
Don  Felix  Berasconi,  of  Buenos  Aires,  bequeathed  in  1915 
the  considerable  sum  of  three  and  a half  million  dollars 
for  the  foundation,  under  State  control,  of  an  institution 
to  be  devoted  to  the  educational  and  technical  betterment 
of  the  working  classes  of  the  capital.  In  like  manner, 
though  with  a different  aim,  the  Instituto  Ward  of  Buenos 
Aires,  established  by  Mr.  George  F.  Ward  of  New  York, 


246  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 

provides  a practical  education  for  Argentine  boys  and 
young  men  who  will  some  day  be  called  upon  to  administer 
or  to  assist  in  the  administration  of  the  large  properties 
belonging  to  their  families. 

Americans  who  have  lived  or  traveled  in  some  of  the 
Latin  American  countries  are  likely  to  feel  skeptical  about 
the  interest  of  Latin  Americans  in  anything  that  pertains 
to  the  manual  trades  or  crafts  and  about  the  possibility  of 
changing  the  traditional  Spanish  or  Portuguese  sentiment 
concerning  the  ignominy  of  woi’k.  They  forget  that  the 
great  mass  of  people  is  now  engaged  in  manual  labor  of 
some  sort  and  that  the  large  European  immigration  in 
several  of  the  republics  is  establishing  the  European  code 
of  living,  in  which  industry  for  the  majority  is  an  accepted 
habit.  The  millions  of  Italians,  Germans,  Swiss,  Russians, 
Syrians,  Greeks  have  come  to  Latin  America,  as  they  have 
come  to  the  United  States,  principally  for  the  working 
opportunities  offered  by  the  New  World,  and  with  no  idea 
that  economic  independence  can  be  won  with  folded  arms. 
Thejr,  if  not  the  old  Spanish  and  Portuguese  settlers  or 
the  native  Indians,  are  sure  to  demand  practical  education 
with  a definite  bearing  on  their  economic  situation:  and 
they  are  numerous  enough  in  Argentina,  Chile,  Brazil, 
Uruguay,  and  a few  other  republics  to  exert  strong  polit- 
ical pressure. 

Moreover,  in  all  the  Latin  American  countries,  the  power 
of  foreign  industrial  corporations,  which  are  never  satis- 
fied with  the  manana  philosophy,  because  they  want  maxi- 
mum present  returns,  and  the  lessons  learned  abroad  by 
diplomatic  officials,  students,  and  travelers,  taken  together 
■with  the  daily  newspaper  reports  of  foreign  activities, 
create  movements  for  practical  improvement  which  end  in 
a complete  transformation  of  social  and  economic  principles. 

The  changes  which  occur  under  our  eyes  do  not,  of 
course,  seem  of  unusual  significance:  and  many  a foreign 
official  residing  in  Latin  America  is  undoubtedly  firm  in 
his  belief  that  no  change  is  going  on.  But  the  cumulative 
evidence  taken  over  a large  area  is  convincing.  None  of 
the  Latin  American  countries  is  what  it  was  fifty  years 


Public  Enlightenment  and  Education  247 

ago : and  nowhere  is  this  truer  than  in  the  field  of  practical 
education. 

Since  1917,  technical  instruction  has  been  the  absorbing 
educational  subject  in  Chile,  due  in  a measure  to  the  in- 
fluence of  teachers  brought  in  from  Europe,  and  in  no 
small  degree  to  the  conviction  of  leaders  like  President 
Sanfuentes  that  Chile  must  provide  more  substantially  for 
the  demands  of  everyday  life  and  prepare  for  the  industrial 
progress  which  is  the  next  step  in  the  national  evolution. 

A Council  of  Industrial  Education  was  recommended  in 
1917,  with  thirteen  members,  four  of  whom  should  be  pro- 
fessors of  technical  branches,  and  one,  a woman  inspector 
of  vocational  training  for  women:  and  the  work  under- 
taken by  this  or  some  similar  body  will  undoubtedly  seek 
to  incorporate  into  the  Chilean  educational  system  the  most 
advanced  practices  of  the  United  States  and  Europe.  At 
a recent  date  there  were  in  Chile  nearly  300  primary  schools 
offering  vocational  training,  29  technical  coleyios  for 
women,  6 agricultural  coleyios  at  Chilian,  Concepcion, 
Ancud,  and  other  cities,  11  public  and  10  private  com- 
mercial schools  with  a registration  of  nearly  6000  students, 
besides  evening  commercial  classes  in  the  largest  cities, 
schools  of  mining  at  Santiago,  Copiapo,  and  La  Serena, 
various  special  schools  of  arts  and  crafts  and  special  schools 
in  separate  agricultural  branches  such  as  dairying,  lately 
put  into  operation,  and  an  Industrial  University  at  Val- 
paraiso. The  commercial  schools  are  not  only  objects  of 
distinct  solicitude  on  the  part  of  the  government,  but  have 
also  enlisted  the  zealous  support  of  chambers  of  commerce 
and  private  citizens. 

A like  interest  in  practical  education  is  shown  by  the 
government  of  Argentina,  by  the  provincial  authorities, 
and  by  individuals. 

The  Federal  Government  maintains  national  Schools  of 
Commerce  in  Buenos  Aires,  Tucuman,  Concordia,  and  these 
have  evidently  proved  satisfactory  to  a high  degree,  since 
the  students  of  the  School  of  Commerce  of  Mendoza  have 
petitioned  in  1921  that  their  institution  also  should  be 
nationalized.  National  industrial  schools,  similar  to  the 


248  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 

manual  training  high  schools  of  the  United  States,  offer  six- 
year  courses,  with  special  instruction  in  engineering, 
chemistry,  and  mechanics ; and  trade  schools  for  girls,  con- 
trolled either  by  the  Federal  Government  or  the  Provincial 
governments,  give  a thorough  technical  education  in  the 
various  arts  and  crafts,  such  as  millinery,  dress-making, 
glove-making,  and  telegraphy,  which  women  are  likely  to 
take  up.  At  Tucuman,  there  is  a special  school  for  the 
study  of  the  sugar  industry;  at  Mendoza,  a school  in  viti- 
culture ; at  San  Juan,  a school  in  fruit  growing ; at  Misiones, 
a school  in  lumbering.  The  Engineering  School  of  the 
University  of  Buenos  Aires  now  enrolls  in  the  neighboi’hood 
of  1000  students. 

To  stimulate  the  interest  in  industrial  education,  many 
of  the  Provinces  offer  scholarships  to  defray  the  living 
expenses  of  non-resident  students  who  do  not  have  an 
opportunity  to  attend  technical  schools  in  their  own 
locality.  Also,  in  order  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  course 
of  practical  education  in  other  countries,  the  Argentine 
Government  sends  from  time  to  time  educational  experts 
and  commissions  to  observe  foreign  systems,  to  report  on 
them,  and  to  make  recommendations,  invites  advice  from 
foreign  specialists,  and  engages  the  services  of  eminent 
technical  teachers  of  the  United  States  and  Europe. 

The  transcendent  value  of  industrial  and  technical  train- 
ing for  a population  striving  to  develop  the  resources  of 
its  vast  territories  has  not  been  minimized  by  the  progres- 
sive educational  leaders  of  Brazil.  The  tradition  of  the 
necessity  and  the  dignity  of  work  must  be  firmly  grounded 
in  a republic  so  fruitful  in  possibilities  and  so  certain  to 
attract  multitudes  of  immigrants  from  all  over  the  world. 

The  scientific  teaching  of  agriculture  has,  of  course, 
seemed  of  the  first  importance.  In  1914  practical  schools 
of  agriculture,  with  annexed  experiment  stations,  were 
established  under  the  control  of  the  Central  Government 
throughout  the  various  States.  Sao  Paulo,  always  eager 
to  multiply  its  educational  advantages,  has  four  such 
schools.  A higher  institution  of  agriculture  and  veterinary 
medicine  was  inaugurated  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  in  1913. 


Public  Enlightenment  and  Education  249 

For  technical  training  in  engineering  and  allied  studies, 
schools  or  “faculties”  of  engineering  exist  in  most  of  the 
large  cities.  The  Polytechnic  College  of  Sao  Paulo  gives 
instruction  in  the  usual  scientific  subjects,  and  enjoys  a 
well-deserved  reputation  for  its  admirable  curriculum  and 
the  skill  of  its  teachers.  To  Sao  Paulo,  also,  belongs  Mac- 
kenzie College,  with  a corps  of  instructors  from  the  United 
States,  Canada,  and  England,  and  now  affiliated  with  the 
University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  which,  in  addition 
to  the  regular  work  of  its  College  of  Liberal  Arts,  provides 
instruction  in  the  general  sciences,  civil  engineering,  and 
agriculture.  The  Lyceo  de  Artes  e Officios,  directed  by  the 
Sociedade  Propagadora  das  Bellas  Artes  and  subsidized 
by  the  Government,  furnishes  an  unusually  complete  course 
in  the  applied  sciences  and  in  art  to  nearly  3000  students 
of  both  sexes  annually,  though  it  is  not  in  the  ordinary 
sense  of  the  term  a trade  school.  Students  obtain  in  its 
classes  the  fundamentals  for  any  vocational  work,  and  are 
expected  to  supplement  them  by  serving  an  apprenticeship 
in  their  chosen  art  or  craft  as  regular  workmen. 

Similarly  aided  by  the  Federal  Government  are  other 
State,  municipal,  or  private  schools  supplying  industrial 
or  technical  education,  which  attain  to  certain  fixed 
standards. 

At  present,  the  entire  problem  of  technical  education, 
in  which  the  Brazilian  Government  is  intensely  interested, 
is  undergoing  revision  and  reform,  in  accordance  with  the 
findings  of  a report  presented  in  1919  by  a special  com- 
mission appointed  to  make  a survey  and  to  map  out  courses 
for  the  State  schools  in  the  Federal  District. 

This  report,  which  contains  vital  recommendations,  looks 
toward  a carefully  coordinated  system  of  primary  voca- 
tional schools,  secondary  vocational  institutes,  secondary 
agricultural  schools,  vocational  finishing  courses,  and  a 
normal  school  of  arts  and  crafts,  the  cooperation  of  Brazil- 
ian industrial  firms,  and  the  granting  of  daylight  hours 
to  employees  for  specific  technical  instruction.  The  suc- 
cessful application  of  the  system  in  the  Federal  District 
will  undoubtedly  be  followed  by  its  adoption  or  an  adapt  a- 


250  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 

tion  of  it  in  the  various  States  and  Territories,  and  most 
certainly  in  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo,  whose  schools  were 
studied  with  especial  care  before  the  report  was  formulated. 

Not  only  in  the  southern  republics  of  South  America, 
but  also  in  every  other  Latin  American  republic,  practical, 
technical  education  sharply  distinguishes  the  modern  era 
from  everything  that  has  preceded  it. 

The  habits  and  customs  of  contemporary  Latin  America 
were,  in  general,  implanted  by  foreign  influence;  they  are 
not  the  habits  and  customs  of  the  aborigines.  They  have 
undergone  slow  change,  and  are  now  being  subjected  to 
rapid  variation,  due  to  the  larger  number  of  forces  affect- 
ing them.  The  practical  education  of  to-day  is  one  of  the 
most  potent  of  these  forces. 

Uruguay  is  well  supplied  with  agricultural,  commercial, 
and  trade  schools,  and  possesses  a notable  institution  in  the 
High  School  of  Commerce  of  Montevideo.  In  Caracas, 
Venezuela,  commercial  and  trade  schools  for  boys  and  for 
girls  teach  typewriting,  lithographing,  bookbinding,  auto- 
mobile management,  forging,  the  commercial  subjects,  and 
the  domestic  arts.  A government  school  in  naval  construc- 
tion is  located  at  Puerto  Cabello.  Ecuador  has  schools  of 
arts  and  crafts  at  Pichincha,  Leon,  Azuay,  Loja,  Guayas, 
and  Chimborazo,  and  a school  of  commerce  at  Bahia.  Both 
Peru  and  Mexico  pay  particular  attention  to  manual  train- 
ing. In  Nicaragua,  Honduras,  and  Guatemala,  industrial 
schools  permitting  students  to  devote  half  of  their  class- 
room time  to  the  common  branches  and  half  to  practical 
work  are  in  successful  operation.  Salvador  maintains  a 
School  of  Graphic  Arts,  aiming  at  the  teaching  of  useful 
trades  and  specializing  in  mechanics,  bookbinding, 
telegraphy,  telephoning,  printing,  carving,  drawing,  as  well 
as  a Technical-Practical  Colegio  for  Girls.  In  Costa  Rica, 
the  manual  arts  and  the  domestic  sciences  are  indis- 
pensable adjuncts  to  the  regular  curricula  of  the  secondary 
schools.  Nicaragua  and  Guatemala  have  schools  for  in- 
struction in  telegraphing  and  telephoning.  Tegucigalpa, 
Honduras,  possesses  a national  automobile  school  controlled 
by  the  Government.  The  vocational  school  for  girls  in 


Public  Enlightenment  arid  Education  251 

Panama  offers,  among  other  subjects,  courses  in  cooking, 
flower-work,  and  laundry  work. 

THE  people’s  UNIVERSITY  OF  BUENOS  AIRES 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  experiment  in  purely 
popular  industrial  education  is  being  carried  on  in  the 
Universidad  Popular  (People’s  University)  of  Buenos 
Aires. 

Two  courses  are  offered,  one  in  farm-industries,  the  other, 
in  commercial  branches.  The  former  treats  in  a thoroughly 
practical  manner  agricultural  mechanics,  stock-raising, 
dairying,  fruit  growing,  poultry  raising,  veterinary  medi- 
cine: the  latter,  accounting,  stenography  and  typewriting, 
English,  Spanish,  and  commercial  arithmetic.  A technical 
division  now  in  the  process  of  formation  will  include  courses 
in  mechanical  drawing,  electricity,  and  the  handling  of 
tractors  and  automobiles.  During  the  first  year  (1917) 
in  which  this  unusual  institution  was  in  operation,  1500 
students  registered  for  work ; in  1918  the  number  increased 
to  2100;  and  in  1919  to  2995. 

The  school  is  what  its  name  implies,  a people’s  university, 
open  to  everybody  who  can  carry  on  the  courses  which  he 
elects,  without  any  of  the  distinct  requirements  common 
in  academic  institutions,  and  the  instruction  is  absolutely 
free.  The  resemblance  between  this  People’s  University 
and  the  popular  schools  organized  by  the  Young  Men’s 
Christian  Association  or  the  Cooper  Union  in  New  York 
is  evident.  It  constitutes  a most  valuable  addition  to  the 
formal  technical  schools,  puts  practical  education  within 
the  reach  of  the  persons  most  in  need  of  it  and  least  likely 
to  secure  it  in  any  other  way,  and  should  exert  a wide 
influence  in  the  countries  desirous  of  making  technical 
education  truly  democratic. 

The  completeness  with  which  Latin  America  is  putting 
its  soul  into  the  practical  education  of  the  people  is  further 
evinced  by  the  numerous  scholarships  offered  by  the  various 
national  and  provincial  governments  to  enable  worthy 
young  men  and  women  to  study  in  the  best  schools  of  the 
United  States  and  Europe. 


252  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 

Paraguay  maintains  50  such  students,  Brazil,  Argentina, 
and  Costa  Rica  varying  numbers,  from  a few  up  to  40  or 
50,  and  Mexico  has  lately  provided  for  an  exchange  of 
scholarships  with  the  United  States. 

Since  the  Latin  American  student  plays  a much  more 
significant  role  in  society  than  the  American  student,  and 
commands  much  greater  political  and  social  influence, 
whether  as  an  individual  or  as  a member  of  student  organ- 
izations, the  broadening  of  his  outlook  upon  the  world  by 
foreign  study  naturally  results  in  a laudable  desire  to 
introduce  salutary  changes  into  his  home  environment  after 
his  return.  Students  who  have  enjoyed  the  advantages  of 
the  best  training  in  the  excellently  equipped  technical 
schools  of  the  United  States  and  Europe  and  return  home 
to  teach  are  not  likely  to  rest  content  with  the  theoretical 
courses  or  the  meager  equipment  of  the  earlier  technical 
schools  in  their  countries. 

LIBRARIES,  NEWSPAPERS,  AND  MOTION-PICTURES  AS  EDUCA- 
TIONAL AGENCIES 

Among  the  subsidiary  factors  employed  in  the  fostering 
of  public  enlightenment  and  education  in  Latin  America, 
the  libraries  and  reading-rooms,  the  public  museums,  the 
botanical  gardens,  the  public  lectures,  and,  of  course,  the 
newspapers  and  the  motion-pictures  should  not  be  for- 
gotten. 

Public  libraries  of  the  kind  to  which  we  are  accustomed 
are  as  rare  in  Latin  America  as  they  are  in  England  or 
France:  yet  in  1913,  Mexico  had  151  public  libraries  or 
reading-rooms,  and  Cuba  has  within  the  past  few  years 
instituted  a system  of  circulating  libraries  similar  to  those 
in  vogue  in  the  United  States.  The  national  libraries  located 
in  the  capitals  are,  however,  comparable  with  the  best  in 
our  country  or  Europe,  the  National  Library  of  Mexico 
having  over  400,000  volumes,  some  of  them  of  priceless 
value,  and  the  National  Library  of  Argentina,  under  the 
direction  of  M.  Groussac,  now  enjoying  an  international 
reputation.  La  Prensa,  the  great  Argentine  daily,  whose 
owners  have  always  worked  for  public  enlightenment,  in- 


Public  Enlightenment  and  Education  253 

eludes  in  the  magnificent  building  in  which  it  is  housed  a 
public  reading-room  and  an  auditorium  in  which  lectures 
open  to  the  public  are  regularly  given. 

The  education  afforded  by  the  admirable  newspapers 
of  Latin  America,  such  as  La  Prensa  and  La  Nation  of 
Argentina,  El  Mercurio  of  Chile,  the  Jornal  do  Commercio 
of  Brazil,  El  Impartial  of  Mexico,  La  Prensa  of  Cuba, 
El  Dia  of  Uruguay,  El  Comercio  of  Peru,  which  a well- 
informed  Spanish  writer,  Senor  Beltran  y Rozpide,  regards 
as  superior  to  the  newspapers  published  in  Spain,  would 
alone  be  sufficient  to  destroy  medievalism  and  implant  a 
modern  civilization  in  a relatively  short  space.  The  num- 
ber of  them,  both  in  Spanish  and  in  innumerable  foreign 
languages,  is  extraordinarily  large,  over  500  publications 
regularly  issuing  from  the  presses  of  Buenos  Aires  and 
more  than  200  from  the  publishing  establishments  of  the 
State  of  Sao  Paulo. 

As  for  the  motion-picture,  whatever  its  pernicious  effect 
when  used  only  for  mercenary  purposes,  nobody  can  doubt 
its  far-reaching  educational  influence  in  countries  where 
the  picture-palace  is  the  prevalent  place  of  entertainment 
and  the  people’s  clubhouse.  Whether  in  the  city  or  in  the 
remote  “camp,”  it  is  insensibly  remolding  the  mental 
ideas  of  entire  nations  regarding  the  world  in  which  we 
all  live,  changing  fashions  and  architecture,  and  unosten- 
tatiously, but  skillfully,  teaching  history,  current  events, 
and  art. 

At  present  the  American  film  reigns  supreme,  and  our 
motion-picture  dramas  and  actors  are  as  eagerly  discussed 
in  Latin  American  homes  as  they  are  in  the  United  States. 

If  the  purveyors  of  motion  pictures  but  realized  their 
power  for  good,  they  might  easily  aspire  to  honor  as  genuine 
benefactors  of  multitudes  only  too  ready  to  accept  what 
they  see  at  its  face  value. 

The  use,  too,  of  purely  educational  films  is  growing  in 
Latin  America,  and  instruction  is  given  by  means  of  them 
in  dairying,  furniture  making,  iron  and  steel  manufactur- 
ing, the  management  of  farm  machinery,  and  kindred 
processes. 


254  Public  Enlightenment  and  Education 

Fifty  years  ago,  Latin  America  was  practically  without 
any  of  the  great  educational  instruments  enumerated  in 
this  chapter.  The  Latin  American  division  of  the  New 
World  was  still  the  Old  World  of  the  backward  countries 
of  Europe.  Much,  indeed,  has  been  accomplished  in  a short 
time:  and  much  more  may  be  expected  in  the  next  half- 
century.  Those  who  continue  to  see  Latin  America  at  a 
standstill  in  public  enlightenment  and  education  either 
close  their  eyes  to  the  most  patent  facts  or  allow  their 
prejudices  to  restrict  or  to  misinterpret  their  observation. 


CHAPTER  XI 


CULTURAL  DEVELOPMENT 

The  greatest  Spanish  poet  of  recent  times  has  been 
Ruben  Dario,  of  Nicaragua.  One  of  the  most  perfect  of 
all  French  poets  was  Jose  Maria  de  Heredia,  of  Cuba. 
Dona  Gertrudis  Gomez  de  Avellaneda,  of  Cuba,  startled 
and  enthralled  the  Spanish  world  in  the  third  quarter  of 
the  nineteenth  century  with  her  lyric  poetry,  her  humani- 
tarian novels,  and  her  forceful  dramas.  Andres  Bello,  of 
Venezuela,  the  teacher  of  Bolivar,  occupies  an  exalted  posi- 
tion among  Spanish  scholars.  Jose  Gautier  Benitez,  of 
Porto  Rico,  who  died  in  1880  at  the  age  of  thirty-two  years, 
revealed  during  his  lifetime  a truly  poetic  gift  entitling 
him  to  a permanent  place  in  the  history  of  Spanish  letters. 

The  splendid  statue  of  The  Last  of  the  Mohicans  in 
Central  Park,  New  York,  is  a replica  of  the  bronze  statue 
of  the  Araucanian  chief,  Caupolican,  by  Don  Nicanor  Plaza, 
the  Chilean  sculptor.  Some  of  the  latest  “finds”  in  opera 
are  Chief  Caupolican,  the  Araucanian  Indian  who  has  this 
year  (1921)  enthused  New  York  audiences  as  Mathis,  in 
“The  Polish  Jew,”  presented  by  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
Company : Guiomar  Novaes,  of  Brazil,  acclaimed  a musical 
prodigy  in  the  musical  centers  of  the  United  States ; 
Senhorita  Vera  Zanacopulos,  the  Brazilian  soprano;  and 
Senora  Ada  Navarrete  de  Carrasco,  of  Mexico,  who  has 
been  with  the  Metropolitan  Opera  Company.  Francisco 
Bernareggi,  of  Argentina,  has  lately,  in  the  words  of  a 
Spanish  art  critic,  “been  able  at  last,  by  means  of  only  a 
dozen  paintings,  to  set  a whole  people  marveling,”  and, 
what  may  seem  more  significant  to  some  American  readers, 
has  sold  these  first  productions  of  his  brush  at  fourteen, 
twenty,  and  thirty  thousand  pesetas,  or  francs,  each. 

Notwithstanding  the  common  belief  that  Latin  America, 

255 


256 


Cultural  Development 


because  of  the  conditions  of  life  supposedly  obtaining  in 
most  of  the  republics  and  above  all  because  of  the  fre- 
quency of  their  revolutions,  contains  neither  actually  nor 
potentially  the  germs  of  a great  cultural  evolution,  scarcely 
a moment  in  its  history  can  be  singled  out  in  which  it  has 
failed  to  produce  remarkable  talents,  striking  esthetic 
Avorks,  and  minds  sincerely  devoted  to  the  arts,  learning, 
and  science,  or  to  inspire  masterpieces  of  art  and  literature 
in  foreign  countries. 

Its  situation  has  differed  in  no  wise  from  that  of  the 
United  States,  except  in  the  circumstance  that  its  brightest 
intellects,  when  not  immersed  in  politics  and  war,  have 
shown  a decided  preference  for  the  humane  arts  and  only 
a lukewarm  attraction  for  the  glory  bestowed  by  com- 
mercial pursuits. 

Climate  has  seemingly  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
creative  power  of  its  highest  cultural  representatives,  nor 
with  their  individual  qualities.  The  northern  tropical  or 
subtropical  section  of  Latin  America,  including  Mexico, 
has  furnished  no  more  impassioned  poetry  or  prose  and 
no  less  cool,  impersonal,  carefully  reasoned  scholarship  and 
scientific  study  than  the  southern  section.  Cuba,  Mexico, 
and  Venezuela  have  been  the  equals  of  Argentina,  Chile, 
and  Uruguay  in  cultural  production;  Nicaragua  has  sent 
forth  the  strongest  and  most  versatile  poet  of  all  the  Spains, 
Ruben  Dario,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  and 
the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century;  Ecuador  gave 
birth  to  the  most  majestic  singer  of  Spanish  American 
independence,  Jose  Joaquin  Olemdo  (1780-1847)  ; and 
Peru  has  produced  in  Don  Jose  S.  Chocano  (1867-  ) 

the  acknowledged  bard  of  Americanism  in  Latin  America. 

COMPARISON  WITH  THE  PROGRESS  OF  AMERICAN  LITERATURE 

Latin  America,  like  the  United  States,  is  the  off-shoot 
of  an  old  European  civilization  in  all  that  pertains  to 
spiritual  and  intellectual  development.  It  has  passed 
through  identical  national  vicissitudes,  and  has  enjoyed 
the  advantages  and  suffered  the  disadvantages  of  connec- 
tion with  an  old  world. 


SOLIS  THEATER,  MONTEVIDEO. 


CAGANCHA  PLAZA,  MONTEVIDEO. 


Cultural  Development 


257 


The  words  of  Professor  Walter  C.  Bronson  regarding 
the  status  of  letters  in  the  United  States  during  the  colonial 
and  revolutionary  periods  (1607-1789)  may  be  applied  to 
it  almost  without  alteration : 

The  development  of  American  literature  during  the  first  two 
centuries  presents  a peculiar  phenomenon.  The  literature  is  not 
that  of  a people  slowly  emerging  from  barbarism  and  creating 
their  own  civilization  through  the  long  toil  of  ages.  On  the 
contrary,  it  is  the  literature  of  a people  already  highly  civilized, 
but  transplanted  to  another  continent,  where  they  set  up  in  the 
wilderness  the  institutions  of  the  Old  World  modifying  them  to 
meet  changed  conditions  and  taking  on  in  time  a somewhat  new 
spirit,  yet  on  the  whole  clinging  tenaciously  to  the  substance  of 
the  old,  and  imitating  with  the  provincial’s  feeling  of  dependence 
the  current  life  and  fashions  of  the  mother  country.  A colonial 
literature  has  the  advantage  of  inheriting  the  riches  of  an  old 
civilization ; it  has  the  disadvantage  of  crude  surroundings  and 
lack  of  originality.  Such  was  the  case  of  American  literature 
for  two  hundred  years. 

To  this  should  be  added,  respecting  Latin  America,  that 
certain  centers,  such  as  Mexico  City,  Bogota,  Colombia, 
and  Lima,  Peru,  became  the  seats  of  learning  and  literary 
activity  in  the  New  World  at  a very  early  date,  and  that 
France,  through  its  books,  especially  beginning  with  the 
eighteenth  century,  captivated  the  cultured  spheres  of 
society  and  grafted  many  of  the  Gallic  traits  on  the  basic 
Spanish  or  Portuguese  qualities. 

Generally  speaking,  facility  in  writing,  as  well  as  facility 
in  oral  expression,  is  an  inherent  characteristic  of  the  edu- 
cated Latin  American.  Writers,  then,  there  have  been 
a-plenty : masterpieces,  as  in  every  new  country,  few. 
Nevertheless,  Latin  America  has  always  had  a rich, 
exuberant  literature  of  considerable  merit  and  of  acute 
sociological  interest.  The  mere  fact  that  for  three  hundred 
years  the  Latin  American  colonies  were  held  in  a state  of 
bondage  by  Spain  and  the  Church  explains  the  lack  of 
works  of  superior  caliber  during  the  larger  part  of  their 
history.  The  turmoil  of  the  War  for  Independence,  too, 
was  responsible  for  the  delay  in  the  evolution  of  artistic, 
national  literatures. 


258 


Cultural  Development 


Down  to  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
Latin  American  literature  followed  closely  in  the  footsteps 
of  the  literature  of  the  mother  countries.  Literary  events 
in  Spain  and  Portugal  had  a far-off  echo  in  the  New  World. 
The  quarrels  of  Lope  de  Vega  and  Gongora  created  a 
literary  schism  in  Peru,  where  the  euphuistic,  involved 
style  of  Gongora  had  ardent  admirers  toward  the  begin- 
ning of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  earned  for  their  maker 
the  title  of  “the  prince  of  poets.” 

The  greatest  epic  dealing  with  Latin  America,  Ercilla  y 
Zuniga’s  Araucana,  composed  on  the  ground,  between 
battles  with  the  Araucanian  Indians  and  written  on  scraps 
of  paper  and  leather,  found  ready  imitators,  including  the 
Chilean  poet,  Pedro  de  Oiia’s,  Arauco  Domado,  which 
attempted  to  set  forth  in  more  brilliant  guise  the  feats  of 
valor  of  Don  Garcia  Hurtado  de  Mendoza,  the  son  of  the 
Viceroy  of  Peru,  than  Ercilla  y Zuniga  had  seen  fit  to  rep- 
resent them  in  the  Araucana.  Numerous  other  lengthy,  and 
generally  monotonous,  narrations  in  the  epic  style,  such  as 
El  Per  eg  vino  Indiano  (1599),  by  Saavedra  de  Guzman, 
copied  the  prevailing  mode  in  the  “old  country.” 

Lyric  poetry  was  fashioned  after  Peninsular  models, 
often  in  the  pompous  manner  of  literary  parvenus  anxious 
to  make  good  their  pretensions  by  added  floridity  or 
grandiloquence — a defect  not  always  avoided  even  by  that 
admirable  “Tenth  Muse,”  Sor  Juana  Ines  de  la  Cruz  of 
Mexico  (1651-1695),  the  American  reincarnation  of  the 
great  Santa  Teresa  de  Jesus. 

Chronicles,  rhymed  and  in  prose,  the  history  of  saints, 
a meager  amount  of  lyric  poetry  of  mediocre  quality,  stray 
comedies,  autos  (religious  dramatic  compositions),  and  here 
and  there  some  literary  criticism  conclude  the  literary  out- 
put of  the  first  two  centuries  of  Spanish  dominion  in  the 
Americas.  The  printing  press,  first  set  up  in  the  New 
World  in  Mexico  in  1535,  published  spiritual  tracts,  primi- 
tive news  leaflets,  and  catechisms  in  the  native  Indian 
tongues.  The  most  entertaining  literature  was  written  in 
Lima,  Peru,  where  the  viceregal  court  held  sway  with 


Cultural  Development 


259 


almost  European  splendor,  and  verse  was  practiced  as  a 
social  accomplishment. 

The  noteworthy  cultural  differences  between  the  English 
and  the  Spanish  colonists  in  the  New  World  before  the 
eighteenth  century  lay  in  the  spirit  with  which  they  ac- 
cepted the  strange  environment  to  which  they  had  been 
transplanted. 

In  Virginia,  along  with  the  ordinary  toil  of  home-build- 
ing and  clearing  land  for  the  plantations,  there  reigned  a 
good-humored,  imaginative  outlook  on  life  which  occasion- 
ally found  expression  in  writing.  For  want  of  a sufficient 
audience  and  because  of  the  interdiction  of  the  king  against 
the  establishment  of  printing-presses,  literature  deserving 
of  the  name  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  flourished : and  the 
cavaliers  lacked,  besides,  that  love  of  book-learning  which 
was  rather  common  among  the  Puritans.  But  such  writing 
as  was  actually  done  by  men  like  Captain  John  Smith, 
George  Sandys,  and  William  Strachey,  showed  promise  in 
its  vigor  and  untrammeled,  naive  frankness. 

The  Puritans  were  men  of  sterner  stuff,  and  much  more 
convinced  of  the  necessity  and  the  value  of  learning.  They 
believed  in  education  largely  as  an  aid  to  the  knowledge  ot 
the  Bible,  and  gave  a certain  encouragement  to  writing  for 
the  purpose  of  eternalizing  their  religious  ideas  and  spread- 
ing their  controversial  opinions.  Public  instruction  was 
made  compulsory  as  early  as  1649.  The  founding  of 
Harvard  College  in  1636  promoted  the  growth  of  a serious, 
though  small,  reading  and  writing  public  of  advanced  cul- 
ture. Graduates  from  the  English  universities  occupied 
many  of  the  pulpits.  Oratory  of  an  energetic,  if  somber, 
style  was  much  in  evidence.  Translations  of  the  Psalms 
secured  great  respect  for  their  writers.  Prosaic  but  ear- 
nest histories  of  the  establishment  of  the  colonies  were  early 
undertaken  by  such  men  as  William  Bradford  and  John 
Winthrop.  Occasionally  works  of  a lighter  vein  appeared, 
notably  The  Four  Ages  of  Man,  The  Four  Seasons,  and 
the  like,  of  Mrs.  Anne  Bradstreet  (1613-1672),  whose 
volume  of  poems  published  in  London  in  1650  bore  the 
title  “The  Tenth  Muse  lately  sprung  up  in  America” — 


260 


Cultural  Development 


curiously  enough,  a nearly  literal  anticipation  of  the  title 
given  toward  the  end  of  the  century  to  Sor  Juana  Ines 
de  la  Cruz  of  Mexico,  “la  Musa  Decima  mexicana ” (“the 
Tenth  Muse  sprung  up  in  Mexico”). 

The  Latin  American  culture  of  the  period  under  dis- 
cussion, however  poor  it  may  seem  in  comparison  with  that 
of  Europe  or  of  later  epochs,  was  rich,  varied,  and  mature 
as  contrasted  with  the  culture  of  the  English  colonies. 

Universities  existed  in  the  principal  capitals,  the  print- 
ing-press functioned  more  than  a hundred  years  before 
it  was  introduced  into  the  North  American  colonies,  great 
men  of  letters — Spanish  historians,  poets,  priests — com- 
posed many  of  their  works  in  Latin  America,  at  least  one 
famous  dramatist,  Juan  Ruiz  de  Alarcon  (1581-1639)  was 
born  on  Latin  American  soil,  poetical  contests  were  held  in 
Mexico  before  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the 
viceroys  were  men  of  distinction  and  education,  dabbled 
in  letters  and  the  arts,  and  were  surrounded  by  some  of 
the  best  Spanish  society,  a poetess  of  Lima,  under  the 
nom  de  plume  of  “Amarilis”  corresponded  in  rhyme  with 
the  marvelous  Lope  de  Vega,  erudite  investigations  were 
made  into  the  history,  customs,  and  manners  of  the  Indians, 
Garcilaso  de  la  Vega  (1540-1616),  of  royal  Inca  blood, 
demonstrated  in  his  Comentarios  reales  (Royal  Commen- 
taries) that  the  native-born  sons  of  Latin  America  might 
in  the  future  contribute  powerfully  to  the  development 
of  Spanish  culture,  and  scientists  and  scholars  like 
Sigiienza  y Gongora  of  Mexico  wrote  learnedly  on  mathe- 
matics, philosophy,  archaeology,  and  astronomy. 

The  essential  characteristic  of  the  beginning  of  culture 
in  Latin  America  was  its  restriction  to  a select  class, 
whereas  in  New  England,  because  of  the  paramount  desire 
to  improve  the  common  lot,  the  salient  feature  was  the 
instruction  of  the  people  as  a whole  in  the  learning  and 
the  arts  which  overcome  ignorance  and  promote  the  acquisi- 
tion of  practical  knowledge. 

The  eighteenth  century  in  the  English  colonies  counted 
such  conspicuous  names  as  Thomas  Jefferson,  Benjamin 
Franklin,  Alexander  Hamilton,  and  Samuel  Adams — • 


Cultural  Development 


261 


names  that  stand  for  political  sagacity,  cogent  invective, 
and  practical  common  sense,  unmatched  in  Latin  America 
during  this  period.  But  in  other  directions,  the  fire  oi 
genius  still  slumbered.  With  the  possible  exception  of 
Philip  Freneau,  the  author  of  The  Wild  Honeysuckle  and 
The  Indian  Burying  Ground , American  writers  slavishly 
imitated  the  manner  of  the  English  poets  and  essayists, 
though  showing  in  their  mediocre  and  often  bombastic 
adaptations  a commendable  ambition  to  nationalize  their 
subject  matter.  Not  until  the  question  of  nationality  had 
been  satisfactorily  settled  did  American  literature  expand 
freely  and  independently  and  stand  forth  as  a worthy 
aspirant  for  artistic  laurels. 

As  in  every  other  way,  Latin  America  remained  a step 
behind  us.  Its  independence  came  later,  and  the  prelimi- 
naries to  that  step  were  slower  in  taking  concrete  shape. 
The  paucity  of  its  literature  may  be  accounted  for  also 
by  the  evil  days  on  which  Spain  had  fallen.  Great  con- 
temporary models  in  Spain  and  Portugal  were  wanting. 

Nevertheless,  the  progress  toward  dignified  self-expres- 
sion became  more  and  more  evident  as  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury moved  onward,  and  the  spirit  of  scientific  inquiry, 
stimulated  by  French  example,  burst  the  hobbles  which 
the  Church  had  placed  on  intellectual  curiosity.  Journals 
dealing  with  the  sciences  and  education  became  current, 
among  the  leading  ones  being  El  Semanario  de  la  Nueva 
Granada  (The  New  Granada  Weekly)  and  El  Mer curio 
peruano  (The  Peruvian  Mercury).  Francisco  Jose  Caldas 
of  New  Granada  (now  Colombia)  founded  the  first-men- 
tioned periodical,  which  obtained  the  honor  of  reprinting 
in  Paris  in  1849,  added  much  to  the  botanical  knowledge 
of  South  America,  made  various  astronomical  studies  of 
scientific  value,  and  met  his  death  nobly  in  1816,  at  the 
hands  of  Morillo,  the  Spanish  general,  for  his  espousal  of 
the  cause  of  liberty. 

The  inherent  Spanish  taste  for  history  led  to  national 
undertakings  in  historical  research,  and  the  Historia 
geografica,  natural  y civil  de  Chile  (1779)  by  Juan 
Ignacio  Molina  served  as  the  precursor  of  a long  line  of 


262 


Cultural  Development 


works  rivaling  in  volume  and  wealth  of  detail  the  most 
monumental  histories  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

Serious  and  burlesque  epics,  occasional  verse,  and 
descriptive  poetry  and  prose,  however,  chiefly  occupied 
those  who  wielded  the  pen.  Rafael  Landivar,  a priest, 
imitated  the  Georgies  of  Virgil  in  his  Latin  poem,  Rusti- 
eatio  mexicana,  and  was  declared  by  the  erudite  Spanish 
scholar  and  remarkable  critic,  Menendez  y Pelayo,  “one 
of  the  most  excellent  poets  to  be  met  with  in  modern 
Latinity.”  In  Argentina  Manuel  Jose  de  Labarden  pro- 
duced a play,  Siripo  (1789),  thus  characterized  by  Dr. 
Alfred  Coester  in  his  Literary  History  of  Spanish  America, 
the  first  general  history  of  Spanish  America  published  in 
any  country,  and,  be  it  said  to  the  credit  of  American 
scholarship,  produced  in  this  country: 

The  verses  descriptive  of  the  great  river  penetrating  far  to 
the  interior  were  the  first  about  the  landscape  from  which  so  many 
later  poets  drew  their  inspiration.  Siripo  is  a play  treating  the 
relations  of  the  white  men  and  the  aborigines.  It  breathes  of 
the  pampa.  The  life  of  the  pampa  in  the  form  of  gaucho  poetry 
makes  the  originality  of  Argentine  verses  and  plays. 

The  quickening  political  and  social  events  of  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century  wrought  an  even  more  profound 
change  in  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  life  of  Latin 
America  than  in  the  countries  where  the  occurrences  them- 
selves took  place.  Distance  and  the  idealistic,  not  to  say 
visionary,  temperament  of  the  Latin  Americans  invested 
the  French  Revolution,  French  liberal  thought,  and  the 
American  Revolution  with  a supernatural  grandeur.  The 
ferment  of  upheaval  stirred  all  Latin  America  from  the 
fatalistic  quiescence  into  which  political  and  religious 
repression  had  sunk  it. 

Young  men  went  abroad,  became  infected  with  the  virus 
of  unrest,  and  returned  to  spread  the  contagion  among 
their  countrymen.  Some  of  them,  like  Francisco  de 
Miranda,  the  fire-brand  of  South  American  independence, 
fought  under  Washington  and  with  the  French  revolu- 
tionary' forces,  and  came  back  with  golden  dreams.  Others, 
like  Bolivar,  beheld  the  star  of  destiny  which  lured 


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263 


Napoleon  onward  and  saw  that  same  star  beckoning  them 
from  their  own  heavens.  French  books  circulated  freely, 
and  the  theories  of  the  French  philosophers  became  the 
breviary  of  the  growing  generation.  Everything  tradi- 
tional and  conventional  was  denied:  nothing  was  taken 
for  granted  unless  it  squared  with  the  ultimate  truth 
recently  discovered.  The  Latin  American  soul  became 
emancipated.  It  realized  for  the  first  time  that  it  had 
wings. 

Our  Revolutionary  poetry,  admirably  suited  as  it  prob- 
ably was  for  popular  consumption  by  Americans  then  in 
formation,  is  disappointingly  scant  in  elevated  conceptions 
and  dignified  expression.  We  do  not  take  our  solemn 
moments  solemnly — as  our  songs  and  exhortations  during 
the  late  European  War  amply  demonstrate.  Outside  of 
our  Revolutionary  oratory  and  political  essays,  little  that 
was  written  in  that  momentous  epoch  can  be  classified  as 
literature. 

In  Latin  America  nearly  every  patriotic  outburst  might 
lay  claim  to  praiseworthy  artistic  qualities.  Poetry  in 
general  took  on  a depth  of  feeling  and  a nobility  of  rhythm 
which  were  noticeably  lacking  in  previous  centuries. 
Whether  fulminating  against  Spain  or  echoing  the  roar 
of  the  “down  rushing  waters”  of  Niagara,  Jose  Maria  de 
Heredia,  the  greatest  of  Cuban  poets — not  to  be  confused 
with  his  namesake  and  fellow  countryman,  the  impeccable 
French  sonneteer — wrote  in  the  grand  style,  on  a perfect 
level  with  the  best  strain  of  his  American  translator,  the 
author  of  “Thanatopsis.”  Jose  Joaquin  Olmedo,  of 
Ecuador,  immortalized  Bolivar  in  the  majestic  cadences  of 
his  Victoria  de  Junin,  and  held  through  life  the  conviction 
that  he  had  been  destined  to  scale  the  topmost  peaks  of 
poesy.  The  bard  deemed  himself  fully  worthy  of  his  lyre. 
Gregorio  Funes,  the  learned  Argentine  scholar,  adopted 
the  language  of  Tacitus  in  his  historical  writings,  inspired 
by  the  desire  to  encourage  the  patriotic  struggle  in  which 
the  southern  portion  of  the  continent  was  engaged. 
Bolivar’s  speeches  and  messages  are  instinct  with  Napo- 
leonic eloquence. 


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Independence  once  gained,  a natural  division  of  literary 
labor  took  place.  The  lovers  of  liberty  could  not  lay  down 
the  martial  pen  simply  because  the  tyrant  had  been  driven 
across  the  sea:  they  found  abundant  material  for  their 
ardent  talents  at  home,  in  the  aftermath  of  war,  in  the 
strife  among  the  victors,  in  the  persons  of  the  dictators. 

Jose  Marmol,  the  life-long  enemy  of  Juan  Manuel  Rosas, 
the  Argentine  dictator,  continued  his  Philippics  in  the 
prison  into  which  he  had  been  thrown  and  afterwards,  in 
exile,  drew  that  terrible  portrait  of  the  tyrant  in  Amalia 
which,  despite  its  high  color  and  melodramatic  episodes, 
is  wonderfully  lifelike  and  fascinating.  Probably  no  other 
historical  novel  written  in  either  of  the  Americas  presents 
such  a vivid  description  of  an  epoch  or  a more  exciting 
romance  carrying  the  reader  headlong  with  a nervous, 
energetic  style  and  an  unfailing  resourcefulness  of  incident. 
Heraclio  C.  Fajardo,  of  Uruguay,  attacked  the  memory  of 
the  dictator  in  a drama  entitled  Camila  O’Gorman,  four 
years  after  the  defeat  of  Rosas  and  his  flight  to  England 
(1852).  Manuel  Segura  of  Peru,  Eduardo  Acevedo  Diaz 
of  Uruguay,  and  Juan  Diaz  Covarrubias  of  Mexico  revert 
to  themes  of  the  Revolutionary  wars  or  to  the  disasters 
of  the  subsequent  civil  wars  in  which  they  have  been 
involved;  and  in  Cuba,  Jose  Antonio  Saco,  in  Porto  Rico, 
Roman  Baldorioty  de  Castro  and  Eugenio  Maria  de  Hostos, 
in  Guatemala,  Antonio  Jose  de  Irisarri,  and  a host  of 
others  in  every  newly  founded  republic  and  in  the  few 
colonies  still  controlled  by  Spain  devoted  their  unusual 
gifts  largely  to  the  exigencies  of  political  polemics. 

But  gradually  from  the  welter  of  factional  strife  a 
genuinely  artistic  and  thoughtful  Latin  American  litera- 
ture has  been  disengaging  itself,  with  a marked  note  of 
nationalism. 

“SCHOOLS”  IN  LATIN  AMERICAN  LITERATURE 

The  rise  of  literary  “schools”  in  France  is  invariably 
followed  by  the  initiation  of  similar  schools  in  Latin 
America.  The  romantic,  naturalistic,  realistic,  regionalistic, 
and  symbolistic  schools  of  France  have  Latin  American 


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265 


counterparts:  and  the  only  serious  objection  to  Dr. 
Coester’s  Literary  History  of  Spanish  America  is  that  it 
has  not  in  its  later  chapters  been  arranged  to  correspond 
to  these  well  defined  groupings.  Literature  is  becoming  a 
distinct  profession,  and  is  often,  to  its  advantage,  allied 
with  journalism.  Scientific  study  is  resulting  in  the 
appearance  of  scholarly  works  on  the  natural  sciences,  his- 
tory, sociology,  international  law,  and  education  couched 
in  clear,  straightforward  language.  The  list  of  literary 
personalities  is  growing  with  rapidity,  and  since  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century  it  has  been  possible  to  say  that 
Latin  American  literature  must  be  accorded  a place  among 
the  literatures  of  the  modern  world.  Its  “golden  age” 
has  not  yet  arrived,  but  that  it  is  fast  on  its  way  is  scarcely 
open  to  doubt  by  those  who  have  any  familiarity  at  all 
with  its  present  rate  of  progress. 

It  is  a common  custom,  particularly  in  France,  to  narrate 
the  history  of  belles  lettres  in  terms  of  literary  nuclei, 
grouped  either  about  individuals  or  about  movements. 
Corneille  and  his  school,  Moliere  and  his  school,  Voltaire 
and  his  school,  Chateaubriand  and  his  school,  Victor  Hugo 
and  his  school,  Leconte  de  Lisle  and  his  school,  Zola  and  his 
school,  Paul  Verlaine  and  his  school  sum  up  French  literary 
evolution  during  the  past  two  hundred  and  fifty  or  three 
hundred  years. 

The  same  procedure  is  not  always  feasible  in  Latin 
America,  since  the  numerous  territorial  divisions  represent 
to  a certain  extent  divisions  in  tastes,  tendencies,  and  styles. 
Nevertheless,  accompanying  the  increasing  sectional  separa- 
tion due  to  the  growth  of  nationalism  in  each  republic  runs 
a strand  of  intellectual  attraction  which  often  bridges  polit- 
ical or  material  chasms.  Personalities  annihilate  geography, 
and  intellectual  currents  arising  in  one  corner  of  the  globe 
have  the  faculty  of  coursing  almost  instantaneously  in  the 
most  distant  regions.  Thus,  Andres  Bello,  though  a 
Venezuelan,  was  called  to  organize  higher  instruction  in 
Chile,  and  created  a “school”:  and  Ruben  Dario — who  is 
less  known  by  his  real  name,  Felix  Ruben  Garcia  Sarmiento 
— has  welded  into  the  coherent  modernista  school  the  dis- 


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erete  literary  and  artistic  elements  of  the  present  genera- 
tion in  the  different  Latin  American  countries. 

As  standard  bearers  in  the  arts  and  letters,  whether 
surrounded  by  partisans  or  exerting  a broad  free-lance  in- 
fluence, may  be  mentioned  Andres  Bello  (Venezuela), 
Domingo  Faustino  Sarmiento  (Argentina),  Francisco 
Bilbao  (Chile),  Jorge  Isaacs  (Colombia),  Manuel  Acuna 
(Mexico),  Juan  de  Dios  Peza  (Mexico),  Carlos  Reyles 
(Uruguay),  Jose  Enrique  Rodo  (Uruguay),  Ricardo  Palma 
(Peru),  Manuel  Ugarte  (Argentina),  Ruben  Dario 
(Nicaragua),  Rufino  Blanco-Fombona  (Venezuela),  Ben- 
jamin Vicuna  Mackenna  (Chile). 

A glance  at  the  work  of  Andres  Bello,  Sarmiento,  and 
Ruben  Dario  will  suggest  the  prevailing  interests  of  Latin 
American  writers  and  the  general  bent  of  Latin  American 
culture. 


ANDRES  BELLO,  SCHOLAR  AND  POET 

Andres  Bello  (1781-1865)  stands  for  the  academic  Latin 
American  scholar,  intensely  devoted  to  learning  at  the  cost 
of  personal  sacrifices,  laborious,  high-minded,  an  ardent 
patriot,  and  conversant  with  scholarly  progress  in  the  rest 
of  the  world.  The  political  situation  in  Venezuela  and  his 
position  as  teacher  threw  him  into  close  contact  with 
Bolivar,  whom  he  accompanied  to  London  in  search  of  aid 
for  the  revolution.  There  he  remained  nearly  a score  of 
years,  teaching  Spanish,  enjoying  the  society  of  men  like 
James  Mill,  perfecting  his  knowledge  of  English  and 
French,  making  critical  studies  of  masterpieces  of  Spanish 
literature,  founding  a periodical  for  the  purpose  of  spread- 
ing useful  cultural  information  among  his  compatriots  and 
defending  the  cause  of  independence,  discussing  literature 
through  the  medium  of  a sound  and  liberal  critical  gift, 
and  composing  some  of  his  poetry,  which  included  a vast 
epic  dedicated  to  America,  but  never  finished. 

Diplomatic  offers  from  Chile  resulted  in  his  becoming 
secretary  of  the  Chilean  legation,  after  which  he  was  called 
to  Chile  itself  to  aid  in  certain  literary  work  and  to  es- 
tablish the  University  of  Chile.  Installed  as  rector,  his 


Cultural  Development 


267 


Oracion  por  Todos  or  “Prayer  for  All”  (1843) — superior 
to  Victor  Hugo’s  poem,  to  which  he  is  indebted,  and  now 
recited  by  school-children  throughout  Latin  America— prac- 
tically closed  his  poetic  labors,  and  the  rest  of  his  life  was 
given  over  to  scientific  investigation  and  the  preparation  of 
text-books. 

Bello  was  at  the  same  time  an  encyclopedic  scholar,  a 
true  poet,  without  the  bombast  which  we  are  too  much  in 
the  habit  of  associating  with  Latin  American  names,  and 
a highly  successful  teacher,  capable  of  imparting  solid  in- 
struction, holding  the  affection  of  his  students,  and  arousing 
a pure  and  unselfish  love  of  learning.  He  combined  to  a 
singular  degree  the  attributes  of  James  Russell  Lowell, 
whom  in  a more  than  casual  manner  he  strongly  resembles 
in  sincerity,  imaginative  power,  and  scholarly  inclinations. 

Though  born  in  a tropical  country,  Bello  was  free  from 
rodomontade,  rather  classic  than  romantic  in  temperament, 
and  equal  to  the  minute  investigation  which  is  commonly 
considered  a proprietary  right  in  the  north  temperate  zone. 
His  Principios  de  derecho  internacional  (Principles  of  In- 
ternational Law)  is  a forerunner  of  the  profound  studies 
in  that  subject  made  in  several  of  the  Latin  American 
countries,  and  his  Gramatica  de  la  lengua  castellana 
(Grammar  of  the  Spanish  Language),  published  in  1847, 
is  still  the  supreme  authority  for  Spanish  grammarians, 
even  in  Spain.  A historian,  lexicographer,  mathematician, 
astronomer,  poet,  and  teacher,  Bello  will  compare  favorably 
with  the  most  lucid  intellects  of  other  countries. 

SARMIENTO,  THE  “SCHOOLMASTER  PRESIDENT” 

The  career  of  Domingo  Faustino  Sarmiento  (1811-1888) 
is  another  contradiction  to  the  supposed  effect  of  climate 
on  temperament. 

A citizen  of  the  temperate  zone,  in  Argentina,  Sarmiento 
had  the  impetuousness  and  the  fiery  reactions  of  a tropical. 
He  opposed  the  dictator,  Rosas,  with  pen  and  sword,  ac- 
cepted every  controversial  challenge  cast  at  him  and  threw 
down  the  gauntlet  to  those  who  wielded  the  power  of  life 
and  death,  went  into  exile  in  Chile,  joined  every  reform 


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which  appealed  to  him,  including  the  reformation  of 
Spanish  spelling,  established  new  methods  of  teaching,  in- 
troduced normal  schools  into  Argentina,  supported  his 
Chilean  friends  in  countless  polemical  articles,  visited 
Europe  and  the  United  States,  became  governor  of  his  own 
province  of  San  Juan,  from  which  he  had  set  out  almost 
penniless  to  seek  his  fortune,  was  sent  to  the  United  States 
as  minister  plenipotentiary  of  Argentina,  and  finally  was 
raised  to  the  presidency  of  the  Republic. 

In  the  midst  of  this  whirlwind  of  activity,  Sarmiento 
managed  to  leave  fifty  printed  volumes  of  his  writings,  not 
a few  of  wThieh,  like  Facundo,  ostensibly  the  biography  of 
one  of  the  lieutenants  of  Rosas — but  in  reality  a masterful 
account  of  the  evolution  of  civilization  in  Argentina — Via- 
jes  por  Europa  (Travels  through  Europe),  and  Recuerdos 
de  Provincia  (Provincial  Recollections)  are  brilliant  in 
color,  romantic  or  quietly  pastoral  in  tone,  crowded  with 
original  reflections,  and  eloquent  and  rhythmic  in  style. 

Among  the  noted  writers  of  the  United  States  during  the 
period  in  which  Sarmiento  lived — Washington  Irving, 
James  Fenimore  Cooper,  Bryant,  Poe,  Longfellow,  Emer- 
son, Hawthorne,  Lowell,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  Whittier 
— none  exhibits  Sarmiento’s  combination  of  activity  and 
reflection,  romanticism  and  practicality,  brilliance  and 
warmth.  With  the  exception  of  Emerson,  it  is  doubtful 
if  any  of  these  paladins  of  our  golden  age  of  literature 
was  his  superior,  and  it  is  certain  that  none  did  more  to 
uplift  his  country  and  to  raise  the  general  level  of  culture. 

Sarmiento’s  most  valuable  gift  to  his  country  was  the 
establishment  of  the  modern  system  of  education.  This  he 
based  on  his  acquaintanceship  with  public  instruction  in 
the  United  States  and  on  the  inspiration  which  he  drew 
from  his  conversations  with  Horace  Mann.  His  confidence 
in  the  United  States  was  unbounded,  not  only  in  educa- 
tional matters,  but  also  in  everything  that  might  be  quali- 
fied as  progressive.  The  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend 
whom,  in  his  works,  he  consulted  in  the  formation  of  his 
own  career  and  revered  as  above  all  mythical  gods  was 
Benjamin  Franklin.  His  sympathy  and  respect  for 


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269 


'Abraham  Lincoln  were  profound,  and  impelled  him  to  write 
a biography  of  the  martyred  president.  Senor  Rufino 
Blanco-Fombona  does  him  justice  in  this  regard  and  at 
the  same  time  displays  baldly  his  own  anti-Americanism : 

But  in  Sarmiento’s  day,  the  liberals  of  America  and  many 
conservatives  were  turning  their  eyes  toward  the  North,  with  a 
candor,  a lack  of  comprehension,  a myopia  which  exhibit  more 
enthusiasm  than  justice.  The  Argentine  educator  was  of  this 
number.  He  was  without  the  genius  to  plumb  the  future  and 
to  recognize  the  Yankee  danger.  He  did  not  understand  the 
hatred  of  that  race  for  ours.  He  read  and  quoted  much  that 
was  Anglo-American.  In  1883  he  was  even  accused  of  agreeing 
more  heartily  than  was  desirable  with  a work  by  an  author  of 
the  United  States.  He  died  a frenzied  Yankee-sympaihizer  \_yan 
quizante  furibundo ]. 

In  Sarmiento’s  opinion,  the  United  States  was  the  coming 
country  of  the  world. 

Sarmiento  has  been  called  “the  representative  man  of 
the  South  American  intellect.”  If  the  characterization 
is  apt,  much  may  be  expected  from  his  successors.  The 
keynote  of  his  philosophy  was  incessant  enlightenment  and 
progress.  To  the  agriculturists  he  recommended  the  use 
of  the  latest  discoveries  and  inventions  for  replenishing  and 
tilling  the  soil : to  the  cattle-ranchers,  the  breeding  of  pedi- 
greed stock ; to  the  teachers,  a knowledge  of  the  most  scien- 
tific pedagogical  methods ; to  public  officials,  strict  honesty 
in  administration  and  a kindly  interest  in  the  working 
classes.  For  the  encouragement  of  progress  he  looked  prin- 
cipally to  the  United  States  and  France,  in  the  achieve- 
ments of  which  he  was  well  read.  But  he  lost  thereby  not 
a jot  or  tittle  of  that  ardent  patriotism  with  which  every 
Argentinian  is  born  into  the  world.  Nobody  loved  more 
the  traditions  of  his  country  nor  appreciated  more  keenly 
the  poetry  of  the  Argentine  landscape  or  of  the  life  of  the 
gaucho — a race  now  nearly  extinct,  but  the  inspiration  of 
the  popular  and  most  distinctive  literature  of  Argentina. 

Given  an  incentive,  the  Latin  American,  like  the  Spaniard 
of  the  days  of  the  indefatigable  Lope  de  Vega  or  of  the 
modern  Perez  Galdos,  Emilia  Pardo  Bazan,  or  Benavente, 
is  amazing  in  his  industry  and  resourcefulness.  Bello,  Sar- 


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miento,  Benjamin  Vicuna  Maekenna  (1831-1886) — whose 
historical  works  aggregate  one  hundred  and  sixty  volumes 
— are  a few  among  many  dynamic,  unwearying  Latin 
American  personalities. 

But  in  the  midst  of  activities  which  would  be  sufficient 
to  overwhelm  the  ordinary  mortal,  these  men  of  the  larger 
Latin  American  mold,  who  are  representative  of  the  Latin 
American  spirit  at  its  best,  manage  to  cherish  and  to  keep 
alive  the  divine  spark  of  artistic  perfection.  They  are  not 
merely  quantitative  producers.  They  know  the  principles 
of  art  through  study  and  contact  with  master  minds.  Their 
sense  of  esthetic  appreciation  is  oftentimes  developed  to  a 
degree  uncommon  among  us.  They  learn  to  dominate  the 
instrumentalities  of  their  art,  as  may  be  gathered  from  this 
unstinted,  though  perhaps  somewhat  over-enthusiastic, 
praise  of  the  Uruguayan,  Jose  Enrique  Rodo,  by  Andres 
Gonzalez-Bianco,  a Peninsular  Spanish  critic  quoted  by  Dr. 
Goldberg : 

I have  called  him,  and  I will  repeat  it  once  more,  the  magician 
of  Spanish  prose,  the  publicist  who  writes  the  best  Spanish  in 
all  the  globe,  he  who  has  best  known  to  play  the  instrument  of 
our  language  in  all  its  mastery,  surpassing  Valera  in  flexibility, 
Perez  Galdos  in  elegance,  Pardo  Bazan  in  modernity,  Valle-Inclan 
in  erudition,  Azorin  in  critical  spirit.  . . . He  lacks  certain  quali- 
ties and  subtleties  of  one  and  the  other:  Galdos’s  creative  art, 
Valera's  bland,  aristocratic  skepticism,  Pardo  Bazan’s  spirit  of 
observation,  Valle-Inelan’s  dazzling  poetry,  Azorin’s  assiduous 
application  . . . but  who  could  have  imagined  that  beyond  the 
sea  there  was  to  flourish,  at  the  very  end  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
the  greatest  prose  writer  of  the  Castilian  language? 

RUBEN  DAldo,  THE  MOST  SIGNIFICANT  OF  MODERN  SPANISH 

POETS 

Not  less,  in  the  province  of  poetry,  may  be  said  of  Ruben 
Dario  (1867-1916),  the  Nicaraguan,  who  has  been  acknowl- 
edged the  leading  poet  in  recent  times  of  the  Spanish  world. 

Dario’s  life  was  an  Odyssey  of  travel,  adventure,  and 
feminine  enchantment  and  disenchantment.  From  Ni- 
caragua to  Chile,  to  Salvador,  to  Guatemala,  to  the  United 
States,  to  Spain,  to  Cuba,  back  to  Nicaragua,  thence  to 


Cultural  Development 


271 


Paris,  to  Buenos  Aires,  to  Brazil,  meeting  Castelar,  the 
great  Spanish  tribune,  Campoamor,  Menendez  y Pelayo, 
Oscar  Wilde,  Verlaine,  representing  various  of  the  Latin 
American  countries,  writing  for  the  newspapers,  composing 
poetry  and  poetic  prose,  Dario  reminds  one  somewhat  of 
the  intermittently  gay  and  sad  wandering  troubadours  of 
the  Middle  Ages. 

His  Azul  (1888)  marks  an  epoch  and  the  foundation 
of  a new  school  in  Spanish  poetry.  He  became  the  law- 
giver and  the  sacred  model  of  the  modernistas,  acquiring 
disciples  in  every  Spanish  land  and  leaving  behind  him 
countless  imitators.  His  omnivorous  reading,  his  extensive 
traveling,  his  celebrated  friendships  gave  him  a breadth  of 
vision  denied  to  most  poets;  the  small  size  and  relative 
unimportance  of  his  own  country  made  of  him  a citizen 
of  the  world;  and  his  innate  poetic  genius,  coupled  with 
his  adoration  of  France,  kept  his  art  pure  and  genuine. 

To  Latin  Americans  timorous  of  the  might  of  the  United 
States,  Ruben  Dario  will  always  be  dear  because  of  his 
much  quoted  challenge  in  his  ode  To  Roosevelt,  thus 
rendered  by  Professor  E.  C.  Hills : 

But  our  America,  which  since  the  ancient  times 
Has  had  its  native  poets;  which  lives  on  tire  and  light, 

On  perfumes  and  on  love;  our  vast  America, 

The  land  of  Montezuma,  the  Inca’s  mighty  realm, 

Of  Christopher  Columbus  the  fair  America, 

America  the  Spanish,  the  Roman  Catholic, 

0 men  of  Saxon  eyes  and  fierce  barbaric  soul, 

This  land  still  lives  and  dreams,  and  loves  and  stirs! 

Take  care! 

The  daughter  of  the  Sun,  the  Spanish  land  doth  live ! 

And  from  the  Spanish  lion  a thousand  whelps  have  sprung ! 

To  lovers  of  true  poetry,  he  will  remain  one  of  the  most 
gifted  singers  of  modern  times  and,  though  a Central 
American,  one  of  the  half  dozen  poets  of  the  beginning 
of  the  twentieth  century  worthy  of  a place  among  the 
classics  of  the  future. 

That  such  men  as  Bello,  Sarmiento,  Rodo,  and  Ruben 
Dario  are  not  less  common  in  Latin  America  than  men  like 
James  Russell  Lowell,  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  Emerson 


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among  us  will  seem  an  astonishing  fact  to  the  general  public. 
Why  they  should  be  fewer  is  not  at  all  clear : but  that  we 
expect  them  to  be  so  is  certain.  Their  frequent  presence 
cannot  be  too  highly  emphasized.  They  are  indicative  of 
an  artistic  and  intellectual  strength  in  the  Latin  American 
public  commonly  unrecognized  by  foreign  nations. 

They  were,  besides,  men  of  the  people,  blessed  with  no 
special  advantages  over  their  neighbors,  partly  self-edu- 
cated, and,  in  the  case  of  Sarmiento,  wholly  and  admirably 
self-made.  By  competent  judges  in  the  mother-country, 
these  leading  spirits  and  others  like  them  are  accounted 
Spanish  notabilities  fit  to  rank  with  the  flower  of  Spanish 
art  and  thought.  Lately,  they  have  been  among  the  fore- 
most in  bearing  the  Spanish  standard. 

With  the  immense  variety  of  genius  possible  in  Latin 
America  because  of  the  character  of  the  land,  the  differ- 
ences in  climate,  the  mixture  of  races,  and  that  buoyant 
sense  of  growth  and  of  freedom  to  expand  which  will  mark 
each  Latin  American  republic  for  ages  yet  to  come,  why 
should  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  scepter  not  pass  ul- 
timately to  Latin  America,  as  the  English  scepter  will 
unquestionably  pass  to  us?  Indeed,  the  forward-looking 
historian  already  recognizes  by  many  signs  that  the  process 
of  transition  is  far  advanced,  and  that  the  Old  World  of 
English  or  Spanish  speech  is  renewing  itself  in  the  New 
World. 

Ordinarily,  the  course  of  cultural  evolution  appears  to 
keep  to  a fixed  path.  Material  development  and  political 
power,  especially  since  the  invention  of  printing,  are  accom- 
panied or  followed  by  literary  artistry,  in  which  the  written 
word  precedes  the  spoken  word  or  drama,  the  plastic  and 
graphic  arts,  and  music.  The  creation  of  a high  type  of 
drama,  painting,  sculpture,  or  music  evidently  presupposes 
an  older  artistic  background  than  poetry,  the  novel,  or 
general  prose. 

Latin  America  cannot  as  yet  point  to  any  first-class 
dramatic  genius  except  Juan  Ruiz  de  Alarcon  (1581-1639), 
born  in  Mexico,  but  composing  and  presenting  his  plays  in 
the  Spain  of  the  Golden  Age.  In  the  other  arts  there  are 


Cultural  Development 


273 


probably  few  down  to  the  present  time  of  the  relative  rank 
of  Bello,  Sarmiento,  Rodo,  or  Ruben  Dario.  Nevertheless, 
the  foundations  for  an  artistic  unfolding  in  several  of  the 
Latin  American  countries  have  been  firmly  laid,  and  many 
Latin  American  painters,  sculptors,  and  musicians  have 
won  distinction  in  Europe. 

LATIN  AMERICAN  PAINTERS 

The  chief  centers  of  art  are  Argentina,  Chile,  Venezuela, 
Mexico,  and  Brazil.  All  have  national  academies  of  art  and 
conservatories  of  music  in  which  excellent  training  is  given, 
often  by  renowned  foreign  teachers.  The  Palace  of  Fine 
Arts  of  Santiago,  Chile,  is  by  many  considered  the  finest 
art  building  in  the  Western  Hemisphere,  and  exhibits  work 
by  Chilean  painters  and  sculptors  which  is  a perpetual  sur- 
prise to  foreign  travelers  and  students.  At  the  Tenth 
National  Salon  of  Fine  Arts  in  Buenos  Aires  about  six. 
hundred  pictures,  by  nearly  two  hundred  painters,  were 
hung — a circumstance  which  elicited  the  not  altogether 
flattering  comment  of  the  art  critic,  Jose  Leon  Pagano : 

The  European  nations,  however,  do  not  offer  similar  collections. 
We  do  not  mention  Paris.  No  one  is  unaware  that  that  metropolis 
is  the  market  of  Europe;  but  no  one  is  ignorant,  either,  that 
France  does  not  possess  two  hundred  painters  that  represent  her 
national  culture.  When  France  participates  with  a pavilion  in 
an  international  exhibition,  she  does  not  send  six  hundred  pictures. 
We  have  seen  that  it  was  so  in  five  exhibitions  in  Venice,  and 
we  saw  the  same  in  Rome,  on  the  occasion  of  the  fiftieth  anniver- 
sary of  Italian  unification. 

On  the  other  hand,  none  of  the  pictures  accepted  for  the 
salon  is  without  merit,  and  the  large  number  is  convincing 
evidence  of  the  widespread  interest  in  art,  and  particularly 
in  painting,  which  is  in  harmony  with  the  predominantly 
Spanish  and  Italian  complexion  of  the  population  of  Argen- 
tina. The  canvases  of  the  principal  exhibitors — Emilio 
Centurion,  Alfredo  Guido,  Gaston  Jarry,  Jorge  Bermudez, 
Alberto  M.  Rossi — and  the  sculptures  of  Rogelio  Irurtia, 
whose  name  and  works  have  been  familiar  for  many  years 
in  France  and  Spain,  where  he  has  gained  signal  honors, 


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of  Jose  Fioravanti,  of  Cesar  Sforza,  and  of  many  more 
Argentinians  with  Italian  surnames  are  not  below  the  Euro- 
pean or  American  average  of  excellence,  and  often  reveal 
a coming  master,  or  one  already  recognized  as  such  by 
connoisseurs. 

Venezuela,  underrated  because  of  its  checkered  career 
since  the  triumph  of  Latin  American  independence,  has  in 
reality  produced  more  than  its  share  of  genius  or  con- 
spicuous talent.  Bolivar,  Miranda,  Paez,  and  the  noble- 
minded  Sucre  form  a group  of  ardent  patriots  and  inspiring 
leaders  superior,  perhaps,  to  any  group  of  that  period  in 
any  Latin  American  country.  Andres  Bello,  Rafael  Maria 
Baralt,  and  Rufino  Blanco-Fombona  tower  high  in  Latin 
American  scholarship,  poetry,  fiction,  criticism,  and  political 
writing. 

With  the  passage  of  time,  the  reputation  of  four  Vene- 
zuelan painters  appears  to  be  growing  steadily.  Cristobal 
Rojas,  Michelena,  Tovar  y Tovar,  and  Tito  Salas  are  ranked 
with  the  best  artists  of  Latin  America,  have  been  accepted 
on  an  equality  with  native  artists  in  Europe,  where  many 
of  their  canvases  may  be  seen  in  the  company  of  the  finest 
works  of  modern  European  masters,  and  have  awakened 
unusual  interest  in  the  salons  of  Paris.  The  Pentesilea, 
Miranda  en  la  Carraca  (Miranda  in  the  Dungeon  of  La 
Carraca),  and  La  TJltima  Cena  (The  Last  Supper)  of 
Michelena,  the  Pnrgatorio  (Purgatory)  and  La  Taberna 
(The  Tavern)  of  Rojas,  the  heroic,  historic  battle-scenes 
of  Tovar  y Tovar,  which  crystallize  the  Latin  American 
spirit  of  worship  toward  Bolivar,  and  the  Triptico  boliviano 
(The  Triptych  to  Bolivar),  and  the  Emigracion  (The  Emi- 
gration) of  Tito  Salas,  demonstrate  the  inheritance  of  the 
Spanish  brilliance  in  coloring,  the  correctness  of  French 
training,  untrammelcd  originality,  and  a glowing  patriotic 
pride  extremely  propitious  to  the  development  of  a 
genuinely  national  school  of  painting.  The  attention  to 
landscape  painting,  of  which  Pedro  Zerpa  and  Manuel 
Cabre  are  the  most  prominent  representatives,  promises 
likewise  to  intensify  the  love  of  the  criollo,  or  things  of 


Cultural  Development 


275 


the  fatherland,  which  is  becoming  the  dominant  mood  of 
Latin  American  writers  and  artists. 

Left  to  themselves,  Mexico  and  Peru  would  most  cer- 
tainly have  evolved  new  arts  instinct  with  the  traditions 
of  the  ancient  Aztec  and  Inca  civilizations.  The  feeling 
that  the  indigenous  artistic  talent  of  these  old  races  was 
never  justly  appraised  by  Europeans  has  lately  gained 
ground  among  patriotic  Mexicans  and  Peruvians,  and  a 
movement  is  on  foot  to  resurrect  the  principles  which  re- 
sulted in  the  finished  and  oftentimes  gorgeous  pottery, 
woven  work,  and  metal  work,  and  the  majestic  temples 
of  the  ill-starred  contemporaries  of  Montezuma  and  Ata- 
hualpa.  But  the  main  current  of  artistic  endeavor,  par- 
ticularly in  Mexico,  is  distinctly  European. 

, MODERN  ART  IN  MEXICO 

Leandro  Izaguirre,  Alberto  Fuster,  Manuel  Ocaranza, 
and  Luis  Monroy,  of  Mexico,  seek  their  subjects  in  Euro- 
pean history  or  in  the  realms  of  fancy  which  appealed 
to  the  old  Italian  masters  or  to  the  French  romantic  paint- 
ers: Salomon  Pina  and  Juan  Urruchi  treat  Biblical  themes 
with  sympathetic  talent:  and  Jose  Velasco,  among  others, 
depicts  landscapes  in  a style  equal  to  that  of  significant 
modern  European  painters.  In  sculpture  and  architecture, 
too,  the  Spanish  and  French  conceptions  predominate. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  regionalistic  school  has  grown 
with  the  heightening  of  the  spirit  of  nationalism,  and 
national  subjects  command  especial  admiration.  Jose  Ob- 
regon’s  “Queen  Xochitl” — a rich  and  masterly  painting, 
historically  accurate  and  ennobled  by  a reverential  pride 
in  Mexico’s  past — Manuel  Ramirez’s  “Aztec  Baptism,’’  and 
Rodrigo  Entierrez’s  “The  Senate  of  Tlaxcala”  exemplify 
the  patriotic  ideals  of  the  most  influential  Mexican  artists, 
while  demonstrating  that  there  is  nothing  incompatible  be- 
tween fidelity  to  ancient  racial  sentiment  and  close  adher- 
ence to  all  the  details  of  advanced  European  technique. 
Several  Mexican  artists,  notably  Ramirez,  have  exhibited 
their  work  with  striking  success  in  Paris,  and  many  promis- 


276 


Cultural  Development 


ing  young  painters  and  sculptors  are  now  in  the  French 
capital,  partly  at  government  expense. 

The  Mexican  people,  in  fact,  has  always  shown  a com- 
mendable fondness  for  the  arts ; and  the  government,  even 
when  passing  through  its  frequent  crises,  has  never  failed 
to  encourage  artists  and  writers.  The  latest  official  innova- 
tion has  been  the  establishment  of  an  art  school  at  Coyoacan, 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  suburbs  of  Mexico  City,  where 
students  can  carry  on  part  of  their  work  in  inspiring  out- 
door surroundings. 

In  view  of  the  erroneous  ideas  prevailing  in  the  United 
States  concerning  modern  Latin  American  literature  and 
art,  there  is  room  for  a series  of  volumes  on  those  topics 
in  relation  to  Latin  America  as  a whole  and  to  many  of 
the  individual  countries.  Dr.  Alfred  Coester,  in  his  Literary 
History  of  Spanish  America — which  does  not  deal  with 
Brazil — has  already  done  the  chief  piece  of  pioneer  work 
with  regard  to  the  Spanish  republics,  and  Dr.  Isaac  Gold- 
berg, in  his  Studies  in  Spanish- American  Literature,  has 
pointed  the  way  to  specialization  in  periods  and  authors. 

Brazil,  thus  far,  has  had  no  American  or  English  literary 
or  artistic  historian,  though  Dr.  Goldberg  has  announced 
that  he  expects  to  take  up  later  such  recent  Brazilian 
authors  of  note  as  Machado  de  Assis,  Olavo  Bilac,  Coelho 
Netto,  and  Jose  Verissimo.  Indeed,  a volume  showing  the 
cultural  evolution  of  Brazil  should  prove  particularly  use- 
ful and  valuable  because  of  Brazil’s  steadfast  friendship 
for  the  United  States  and  because  of  the  remarkably  gifted 
writers  and  artists  who  are  rapidly  creating  those  condi- 
tions in  which  art  may  thrive — poets  like  Thomaz  Antonio 
Gonzaga,  Bernardo  Gumaraes,  Gonsalves  Dias,  novelists 
like  Jose  M.  de  Alenear  and  Julia  Lopez  de  Almeida, 
dramatists  like  Manoel  de  Macedo  and  Machado  de  Assis, 
historians  like  Francisco  Adolpho  Varnliagen,  painters  like 
Pedro  Americo,  sculptors  like  Rodolpho  Bernardelli. 

MUSIC  AND  DRAMA 

Such  volumes  might  well  treat  also  of  the  development 
of  music,  which  now  reckons  scores  of  gifted  virtuosi  and 


Cultural  Development  277 

a number  of  genuine  operas,  like  Carlos  Gomez’s  Brazilian 
composition,  II  Guarani,  produced  in  Europe,  and  the  Peru- 
vian opera,  Ollanta,  performed  amidst  frenzied  applause 
in  Lima,  in  1920 ; of  the  literary  contests  held  by  the  Liceo 
de  Veracruz  and  other  cultural  societies  of  Mexico  for  the 
purpose  of  glorifying  the  national  past  and  present ; and  of 
the  progress  in  dramatic  interpretation  made  by  Leopoldo 
Beristain  and  Esperanza  Iris  and  their  Latin  American 
colleagues. 

Music,  it  goes  without  saying,  is  the  adored  art  in  Latin 
America,  open-air  concerts  are  regularly  given  in  every 
town  of  any  size  at  all,  and  the  great  artists,  like  Caruso 
and  Tetrazzini,  have  been  welcomed  in  Buenos  Aires,  Monte- 
video, Santiago  de  Chile,  Havana,  Mexico  City,  with  an 
enthusiasm  bordering  on  idolatry,  and  paid  stupendous  sal- 
aries with  which  our  most  flourishing  opera  houses  cannot 
compete. 

The  State  or  municipal  theaters  throughout  Latin 
America  are  splendid  edifices,  the  Colon  of  Buenos  Aires, 
the  Solis  of  Montevideo,  and  the  National  Theater  of  Mexico 
surpassing  the  theaters  of  the  United  States  in  cost,  size, 
seating  capacity,  and  appointments,  and  the  best  companies 
of  Europe  are  engaged.  Native  actors  and  actresses  have 
already  begun  to  make  enviable  records  for  themselves, 
though  only  rarely  have  their  names  reached  American 
ears. 


SCIENCE  AND  SCHOLARSHIP 

Of  equal,  if  not  greater  importance  to  us,  should  be  an 
adequate  knowledge  of  the  scientific  achievements  of  Latin 
American  naturalists,  chemists,  physicists,  social  scientists. 
The  universities  of  Latin  America  are  graduating  thousands 
of  young  men  and  women  thoroughly  grounded  in  the  main 
scientific  branches  and  hundreds  more  are  added  by  the 
schools  of  higher  learning  in  the  United  States  and  Europe. 
As  government  specialists,  teachers,  industrial  technicians, 
and  private  investigators,  a goodly  portion  of  these  recent 
students  will  inevitably  contribute  to  knowledge  in  their 
own  countries.  From  year  to  year,  the  list  of  those  who 


278 


Cultural  Development 


have  performed  conspicuous  scientific  service  grows  longer. 

The  late  Dr.  Oswaldo  Cruz,  the  expert  in  municipal  sani- 
tation after  whom  the  admirable  Instituto  de  Manguinhos 
has  been  renamed  the  Instituto  Oswaldo  Cruz,  Dr.  Manoel 
de  Oliveira  Lima,  the  political  scientist,  who  has  lectured 
at  Leland  Stanford  Junior  University  and  been  exchange 
professor  at  Harvard,  Joao  Barbosa  Rodrigues,  the  botanist, 
Joao  Baptista  Lacerda,  the  biologist — all  of  whom  are 
Brazilians — Dr.  Alejandro  Alvarez,  of  Chile,  one  of  the 
world’s  most  learned  authorities  on  international  law,  Dr. 
Luis  Drago,  of  Argentina,  the  author  of  the  famous  Drago 
Doctrine  relative  to  the  collection  of  debts  in  Latin  America 
by  foreign  governments,  Dr.  Carlos  Juan  Finlay,  of  Cuba, 
the  discoverer  of  the  cause  of  yellow  fever,  Jose  Gil  Fortoul 
and  Delgado  Palacios  of  Venezuela,  experimentalists  and 
theorists  in  the  natural  sciences,  Dr.  Pedro  Belou,  professor 
of  anatomy  at  the  University  of  La  Plata,  Argentina,  and 
numberless  other  earnest  and  brilliant  scholars  and  scien- 
tists, many  of  whom  enjoy  an  international  reputation,  are 
actively  participating  in  the  cultural  and  scientific  activi- 
ties of  Latin  America  and  making  definite  contributions  to 
science  and  learning. 

That  we  know  little  of  them  argues  nothing  against  them. 
Some  of  them  are  familiar  names  in  European  scientific 
centers.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Zahm’s  observation  regarding 
Andres  Bello,  the  Venezuelan,  is  pertinent: 

And  yet  he,  like  his  illustrious  contemporary,  Dean  Funes,  is 
practically  unknown  outside  of  South  America.  Cyclopedias  that 
give  long  accounts  of  comparative  nonentities  do  not  even  mention 
his  name.  And  to  think  that  a man  who  has  rendered  such  great 
services  to  humanity — a man  about  whom  a literature  is  already 
beginning  to  form  in  Spanish  America,  as  one  began  to  form 
about  the  illustrious  Goethe  a century  ago — should  be  ignored  in 
a country  like  ours,  which  should  be  in  closer  rapport  with  the 
scholarship  of  Latin  America  than  any  other  nation  in  the  world  1 


COLON  THEATER,  BUENOS  AIRES. 


FEDERAL  CAPITOL,  BUENOS  AIRES. 


CHAPTER  XII 


THE  POSITION  OF  WOMAN 

On  no  topic  is  there  greater  agreement  among  American 
writers  than  on  the  inferior  and  old-time  Oriental  position 
of  woman  in  every  country  of  Latin  America  to-day,  as 
always. 

Consequently,  to  practically  all  of  us  the  Latin  American 
woman,  even  of  the  better  classes,  is  still  medieval  or 
Asiatic  femininity.  We  contemplate  her  through  the  mist 
of  our  preconceptions  as  a submissive,  sedentary,  domesti- 
cated creature,  generally  too  early  matured,  and,  if  of 
mixed  strain,  usually  fated  to  menial  labors,  in  many  coun- 
tries primitive  in  the  extreme,  tamely  yielding  to  male 
caprice,  quietly  enduring  infidelity  and  neglect,  and  only 
too  willing  to  vegetate.  We  assume  that,  if  all  the  laws 
made  for  the  convenience  of  man  still  prevail  in  Latin 
America,  it  is  because  the  Latin  American  woman  is  satis- 
fied with  her  present  status  and  finds  it,  like  a habit,  more 
comfortable  than  any  conceivable  change. 

What,  then,  are  we  to  make  of  this  forthright  declaration 
of  Dona  Laura  Beatriz  Madueno,  of  Peru,  concerning  the 
transformation  of  womanhood  in  her  country? 

Taking  as  a point  of  departure  a survey  of  Peru  in  its  three 
clearly  marked  epochs,  the  Empire  of  the  Incas,  the  colonial 
period,  and  the  Republic,  we  can  follow  the  exceedingly  slow 
progress  in  the  evolution  of  feminism  until  it  becomes  accentuated, 
or  rather,  indeed,  begins  at  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, when  woman  suddenly  . . . invades  the  universities,  the 
press,  commerce,  founds  feminist  societies,  takes  positions  in 
offices,  and  by  these  means  brings  to  the  mind  of  man  absolute 
conviction  of  her  capacity,  not  merely  as  a natural  companion  for 
man,  but  as  a true  intellectual  and  volitional  entity. 

Instead  of  astonishing  us,  this  statement  should  seem 
perfectly  natural,  for  the  Latin  American  woman  of  any 

279 


280 


The  Position  of  Woman 


standing  at  all  is  but  the  southern  European  woman,  and 
not  the  product  of  a purely  indigenous  Latin  American 
environment.  Her  progress  may  be  measured  by  the  prog- 
ress of  womanhood  in  Italy,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  France, 
and  that  it  entails  the  uplifting  of  her  Indian  and  negro 
sisters  in  those  countries  where  the  Indian  and  negro  popu- 
lation is  heavy  cannot  be  doubted. 

The  Latin  American  woman  is  what  southern  European 
tradition  has  made  woman.  In  the  higher  social  circles 
she  possesses  that  charm,  dignity,  leadership,  and  ambition 
which  are  found  among  the  educated  women  of  France, 
Spain,  Portugal,  and  Italy.  In  the  lower  social  strata  she 
is  receiving  no  wrorse  treatment  than  is  accorded  the  women 
of  the  poorer  classes  in  Belgium,  rural  France,  or  the 
United  States.  Our  scrubwomen,  washerwomen,  and  rag- 
sorters  are  leading  no  softer,  more  fragrant  existence,  and 
it  may  be  questioned  whether  the  wives  and  daughters  of 
many  of  our  down-trodden  farmers  are  any  better  off.  If 
the  women  laborers  of  Latin  America  are  performing  rude, 
heavy  tasks  which  require  physical  endurance,  it  is  quite 
possible  that  this  is  the  consequence  of  an  agricultural 
environment  in  which  mechanical  appliances  have  not  yet 
made  their  appearance.  Much  of  our  chivalry  has  grown 
out  of  our  machines. 

Similarly,  the  influx  of  women  into  the  industries  in 
the  United  States  is  as  much  due  to  mechanical  develop- 
ments as  to  our  willingness  to  admit  them  as  economic 
partners.  Had  the  United  States  remained  an  agricultural 
country,  the  opportunities  for  women,  outside  of  teaching 
and  nursing,  wTould  now  be  little  greater  than  in  many  of 
the  Latin  American  republics,  and  the  position  of  woman 
would  presumably  be  what  it  still  is  in  the  agricultural 
regions  of  France,  Russia,  China,  and  India. 

The  American  woman  has,  however,  no  matter  what  the 
reasons,  fought  her  way  to  a height  of  legal  and  economic 
equality  and  social  independence  which  is  the  admiration 
and  amazement  of  less  favored  women  of  other  nations. 
How  much  of  this  progress  she  owes  to  her  own  initiative 
and  to  the  sense  of  justice  on  the  part  of  the  men,  and 


The  Position  of  Woman 


281 


how  much  to  the  creation  of  new  professions,  such  as 
stenography  and  telephony,  to  the  remarkable  extension  of 
teaching  and  nursing,  or  to  the  readiness  of  business  con- 
cerns to  take  advantage  of  her  more  cheaply  paid  services, 
might  be  hard  to  determine,  though  extremely  interesting 
to  know:  but  it  would  not  alter  the  concrete  fact  of  her 
advancement. 

Legally  and  politically — and,  therefore,  morally — the 
American  woman  is  a recognized  social  entity.  Every 
woman,  it  may  be  thought,  should  aspire  to  that  status. 
If  the  Latin  American  woman  has  no  such  longings,  we 
may  take  it  for  granted  that  she  either  lives  in  an  unchang- 
ing environment  or  that  she  is  undeserving  of  self-expres- 
sion. We  are  loath  to  admit  that  liberty  is  not  an  imperious 
natural  craving — even  in  women. 

Any  improvement  in  woman’s  position  in  Latin  America 
naturally  presupposes  a change  in  her  domestic  condition. 
Most  of  the  chapters  in  Latin  American  discussions  by 
American  writers  which  treat  of  woman  at  all  pay  special 
attention  to  her  household  duties  and  to  the  careless  con- 
jugal views  of  her  lord  and  master.  The  Latin  American 
wife  is  commonly  represented  as  the  plaything  of  a mass 
of  conventionalities  degrading  to  her  individuality  and  in- 
jurious to  her  personal  habits.  She  is  not  free  to  move 
about,  is  surrounded  by  a host  of  servants,  nourishes  a 
vain  pride  concerning  petty  trifles,  is  negligent  on  the 
score  of  neatness,  spoils  her  children  by  too  much  petting 
and  lax  discipline,  and  accepts  with  resignation  her 
husband ’s  polygamous  tendencies.  She  is  said  to  be 
ignorant  of  buying,  cooking,  the  preparation  of  meals,  sew- 
ing, and  nearly  everything  that  constitutes  woman ’s  sphere 
among  us.  Though  generally  praised  for  her  fidelity  and 
excellent  moral  qualities,  she  appears,  in  the  minds  of  many 
observers,  to  be  lacking  in  will-power  and  to  accept  too 
quietly  the  flagrant  indiscretions  of  her  husband. 

To  the  average  American  traveler  or  writer,  all  this  is 
peculiarly  Latin  American,  and  the  result  of  Latin  Amer- 
ican tradition,  environment,  transplanted  Spanish  custom, 
and,  in  part,  Latin  American  racial  characteristics. 


282 


The  Position  of  Woman 


SOUTHERN  EUROPEAN  ANTECEDENTS  OP  THE  LATIN  AMERICAN 

WOMAN 

Nevertheless,  as  has  been  suggested,  the  Latin  American 
woman  is  nothing  more  than  the  European  Latin  woman 
as  a class,  and  Professor  E.  A.  Ross’s  explanation  of  her 
traits  is  the  only  one  broad  and  accurate  enough  to  stand 
the  test  of  analysis: 

In  South  America  the  position  of  woman  reflects  not  only  the 
South- European  or  Latin  tradition,  which  is  less  liberal  than  the 
Celtic-Teutonic  tradition,  but  as  well  that  imperious  Oriental  male 
jealousy  which  the  Spaniards  seem  to  have  caught  from  the 
Moors. 

The  Latin  American  woman  has  been  molded  by  a 
society  in  which  the  Latin  male  has  been  dominant,  servants 
numerous  and  cheap,  the  Church  all-powerful,  divorce 
impossible,  and  feminine  economic  independence  a social 
anomaly.  Her  family  life  has  been  the  same  in  nearly 
every  respect  as  that  of  the  typical  French,  Italian,  Spanish, 
or  Portuguese  woman,  and  the  few  differences  observable 
have  resulted  from  the  lack  of  economic  pressure,  the 
smaller  degree  of  social  coherence  in  countries  of  vast, 
extent,,  and  the  relatively  short  period  in  which  the  cultural 
relations  have  had  a chance  to  develop. 

The  new  ideas  to  which  the  American  and  French  revo- 
lutions gave  rise  transformed  the  political  complexion  and 
many  of  the  social  usages  of  Latin  America : and  the  late 
economic  and  industrial  phase  of  European  and  American 
civilization  is  effecting  a profound  alteration  in  the  Latin 
American  scheme  of  existence.  Coincidentally,  the  modifi- 
cation of  the  status  of  woman  which  has  taken  place  m 
Europe  and  America  as  a result  of  the  economic  situation 
and  the  emancipation  of  woman  from  her  accustomed  atti- 
tude of  dependence,  is  finding  its  counterpart  in  the 
feminine  circles  of  Latin  America  where,  as  in  Japan  and 
Turkey,  woman  has  heretofore  been  regarded  as  personal 
property  and  treated  as  a minor. 


The  Position  of  Woman 


283 


EFFECT  OF  THE  EXAMPLE  SET  BY  AMERICAN  WOMEN 

The  initiative  of  American  womanhood,  particularly,  has 
lately,  however,  awakened  ambitions  in  Latin  American 
thinking  women. 

We  have  yet  a long  way  to  go  [declared  Senora  Carmen  Torres 
Calderon  de  Pinillos  at  the  recent  Women’s  Auxiliary  Conference 
in  Washington]  before  we  can  reach  the  admirable  results  at- 
tained in  this  country  due  to  feminine  initiative  and  the  mar- 
velously organized  labor  of  women.  We  must  make  the  echo  of 
this  labor  reach  the  ears  of  our  sisters  in  Central  and  South 
America,  up  to  the  higher  classes,  which  are  those  destined  to 
be  the  patrons  of  the  movement.  We  must  make  them  understand 
that  the  most  distinguished  and  most  intellectual  women  of  North 
America  have  unquestioningly  placed  in  the  balance  their  knowl- 
edge, their  education,  and  their  personal  and  social  influence,  and 
that,  notwithstanding  they  continue  to  be  excellent  wives  and 
mothers,  they  have  a place  of  honor  in  all  branches  of  science, 
of  industry,  and  of  knowledge.  In  no  country  is  woman  more 
respected  than  in  the  United  States,  due  to  the  place  she  has 
acquired  through  the  force  of  her  initiative. 

LEGAL  STATUS  OF  THE  LATIN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

The  first  desideratum  in  the  emancipation  of  the  Latin 
American  woman  is,  naturally,  equal  rights  before  the  law. 
Her  present  legal  status  gives  her,  in  most  countries,  few 
rights,  and  her  religious  doctrine  affords  her  only  the 
dubious  consolation  of  a sense  of  laudable  self-sacrifice  and 
a prospect  of  heavenly  protection.  Once  married,  she 
surrenders  her  individuality  and  her  liberty  of  action.  Be- 
fore the  law,  she  is  helpless.  She  cannot  of  her  own  accord 
invoke  the  process  of  law,  make  decisions  with  regard  to 
property,  have  an  equal  voice  in  the  upbringing  or  control 
of  her  children,  nor  effectually  compel  the  fulfillment  of 
her  husband’s  marriage  vows.  No  matter  what  the  situa- 
tion of  her  family  may  be,  she  cannot,  against  her  husband ’s 
will,  take  up  any  work,  nor,  however  incapable  her  husband 
may  be,  undertake  any  measures  looking  to  her  children’s 
relief.  In  a word,  before  the  law,  she  is  the  perfect 
nonentity. 

The  American  public,  when  informed  of  this  medieval 


£84 


The  Position  of  Woman 


status  of  the  Latin  American  woman,  is  almost  certain  to 
attribute  it  to  the  continuance  of  those  old  Indian  customs 
which,  among  other  practices,  required  the  immolation  of 
the  wife  on  the  death  of  her  spouse.  But  it  is  not  in  con- 
nection with  the  average  Indian  woman  that  the  woman’s 
movement  in  Latin  America  is  concerned.  For  the  present, 
it  has  to  do  almost  exclusively  with  the  liberation  of  the 
women  of  the  better  classes.  The  fate  of  all  the  women 
i3  necessarily  bound  up  in  it:  but  those  who  suffer  most 
from  present  conditions  are  the  women  of  some  intellectual 
development,  whether  of  European  extraction  or  of  native 
origin. 

Though  carried  over  principally  from  southern  Europe, 
and  therefore  practically  identical  with  the  Spanish, 
Italian,  and  French  conception  of  woman’s  place  in  the 
world,  the  Latin  American  feminine  tradition  really  differs 
in  no  essential  features  from  northern  European  usage. 

What  lies  before  the  leaders  of  the  woman’s  movement 
in  the  Latin  American  republics  is  a programme  as  elemen- 
tary and  thorough-going  as  faced  the  General  Woman’s 
Union  of  Germany  as  late  as  1905,  when  that  association 
issued  the  most  notable  of  feministic  manifestos  based  on 
German  and  Scandinavian  aspiration.  To  be  effective,  the 
movement  must  aim  simultaneously  at  improvement  in  the 
marriage  relationship  and  its  obligations,  increased  eco- 
nomic opportunities,  a large  share  in  public  life  and  offi- 
cially recognized  participation  in  all  matters  of  public 
welfare,  and  the  diffusion  of  adequate  educational  advan- 
tages for  all  classes  of  women.  The  subject  standing  in 
need  of  the  most  radical  reform  is,  of  course,  the  question 
of  legal  recognition,  which  involves  the  destruction  of  the 
double  standard  of  morality,  the  concession  of  personal 
responsibility  equal  to  that  laid  upon  the  men,  and  the 
right  to  a voice  and  a vote  in  property  and  family  con- 
cerns of  any  nature  whatsoever. 

Not  all  Latin  American  women,  it  is  true,  feel  a sense 
of  dependence  in  the  lives  they  now  lead,  and  comparatively 
few  are  able  to  formulate  clear  opinions  as  to  future 
amelioration.  Most  of  them  would  view  with  trepidation 


The  Position  of  Woman 


285 


any  change  which  should  break  the  current  of  their  placid' 
domestic  existence.  They  see  no  special  virtue  in  the 
broadening  of  woman ’s  economic  activities,  and  agree  quite 
generally  with  the  highly  flattering  and  chivalrous  declara- 
tion of  one  of  their  most  eminent  men,  Senhor  Souza- 
Queiroz,  of  Brazil,  to  Mr.  Clayton  S.  Cooper : 

We  do  not  understand  the  customs  of  your  women.  ...  We 
are  amazed  at  their  independence  of  their  husbands  and  their 
departure  from  their  homes  and  their  children  to  compete  with 
men  in  business  and  in  world  affairs.  With  us  our  women  are 
our  home-keepers.  We  like  them  for  their  feminine  charm,  their 
softness,  their  beauty,  and  those  qualities  which  are  the  opposite 
to  the  masculine  characteristics.  I have  been  astonished  in  Eng- 
land, for  example,  to  see  the  women  working  and  competing  with 
men  in  offices  and  in  purely  mercantile  affairs.  I have  wondered 
at  the  lack  of  chivalry  towards  women  on  the  part  of  European 
men.  It  seems  to  us  to  be  a condition  contrary  to  nature. 

Not  otherwise  would  one  of  our  genial  southern  planters 
have  spoken  forty  or  fifty  years  ago:  and  he  would  have 
earned  the  warm  praise  of  all  well-bora  southern  women. 
To-day,  such  statements  do  not  seem  so  inspired,  even  in 
our  southern  states,  and  might  be  subjected  to  considerable 
banter.  Industrial  progress  and  woman’s  pertinacious  in- 
sistence on  her  dignity  as  an  intelligent  human  being  have 
made  them  as  much  out  of  date  as  slavery.  In  the  indus- 
trial centers  of  Brazil,  also,  away  from  the  spacious 
fazendas  (plantations),  they  sound  like  an  anachronism. 

ORGANIZED  FEMINISM 

In  order  to  encompass  their  aims,  the  feminist  leaders 
in  Latin  America  realize  that  they  must  organize.  Organ- 
ization, however,  is  difficult  because  the  various  countries 
are  not  strictly  homogeneous,  and  social  distinctions,  hard 
to  overcome,  are  apt  to  separate  for  instance,  the  Mexican 
champion  of  woman’s  rights  from  the  Argentinian,  the 
Bolivian  from  the  Brazilian,  the  Nicaraguan  from  the 
Peruvian.  Yet,  somewhere  there  exists  a bond  of  union. 
Perhaps  it  lies  in  the  fundamental  unity  of  all  women  as 
a persecuted  or  neglected  sex ; perhaps  in  the  lack  of  inter- 
national and  commercial  rivalry,  which  permits  sincere 


286 


The  Position  of  Woman 


sympathy;  perhaps  in  the  justice  of  the  cause;  perhaps 
in  the  prestige  of  American  and  English  spokesmen  for 
feminism. 

At  all  events,  there  is  now  evident  in  Latin  America 
something  like  a guiding  spirit  which  is  conducting  a con- 
certed and  simultaneous  assault  against  the  citadel  of  man’s 
injustice  to  women.  Ready  as  the  Latin  American  nations 
are— contrary  to  the  common  belief — to  join  universal  cur- 
rents and  to  adopt  new  viewpoints  from  abroad,  and 
especially  from  England,  France,  and  the  United  States, 
an  enthusiastic  welcome  has  been  given  in  most  of  the 
republics  to  modern  ideas  affecting  the  status  of  women. 

WOMEN  VOTERS  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

Concrete  results  are  already  visible  in  the  field  of  woman 
suffrage. 

The  number  of  suffrage  associations  in  Latin  America 
is  considerable  and  is  increasing.  Three  societies  on  an 
established  footing  in  Argentina — the  Union  Feminista 
Nacional  (the  National  Feminist  Union),  the  Asociacion  de 
Derechos  de  la  Mujer  (the  Association  for  Woman’s 
Rights),  and  the  Comite  de  Sufragio  Femenino  (the 
Woman’s  Suffrage  Committee)— have  for  some  time  past 
been  molding  public  opinion,  bringing  to  the  attention 
of  the  various  political  parties  the  arguments  for  suffrage, 
and  demanding  favorable  action.  That  they  will  finally 
be  successful,  nobody  can  doubt.  Women  have  voted,  as 
Miss  Ida  Clyde  Clarke  points  out,  in  municipal  affairs  in 
the  Provinces  of  San  Juan  and  La  Rioja,  petitions  have 
been  presented  by  Dr.  Araya  and  Senor  Mario  Bravo  to 
the  National  Chamber  of  Deputies  asking  that  women  be 
given  the  vote  and  that  they  be  privileged  to  take  an  active 
political  part  in  local  matters,  and  the  members  of  the 
suffrage  associations  have  advocated  numerous  measures 
for  social  improvement,  and  are  putting  some  of  them  into 
effect.  The  Providence  of  Corrientes  has  an  energetic  Fed- 
eration of  Working  Women  which  publishes  its  own  paper 
and  is  conducting  a campaign  for  woman  suffrage. 

The  Paraguayan  Feminist  Center,  formed  this  year  in 


The  Position  of  Woman 


287 


Asuncion,  is  composed  of  influential  women  and  some  men 
favorable  to  equal  rights  for  women.  In  Uruguay  a 
brother  of  President  Brum  offered,  not  long  since,  a bill 
for  the  granting  of  votes  to  women  on  municipal  questions, 
received  the  whole-hearted  support  of  the  National 
Women’s  Council,  and  in  1919  saw  his  efforts  crowned  with 
success.  One  of  the  laws  passed  by  the  Costa  Rican 
Congress  in  1920  bestows  the  right  of  suffrage  on  all 
citizens,  including  women,  and  makes  all  citizens  eligible 
to  state,  municipal,  and  congressional  office.  The  State  of 
Guanajuato,  Mexico,  in  1917,  accorded  to  women  the  right 
to  vote  on  provincial  affairs. 

These  incipient  indications  of  a desire  for  political  stand- 
ing may  be  taken  as  the  preliminary  to  a real  woman’s 
movement  in  Latin  America.  As  a whole,  the  Latin  Amer- 
ican feminist  programme  will  probably  be  modeled  closely 
on  developments  in  the  United  States,  and  the  more  so, 
since  American  guidance  is  eagerly  sought.  The  recent 
Women’s  Conference  in  Washington  has  brought  about 
personal  contact  between  the  best  Latin  American  and 
American  thought  on  the  subject,  many  American  women 
living  in  Latin  American  countries  are  encouraging  their 
Latin  sisters,  and  the  prospective  visit  this  year  of  Mrs. 
Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  the  President  of  the  National 
Woman’s  Suffrage  Association,  to  Latin  America  is  sure 
to  stimulate  feminist  endeavor  and  to  weld  the  different 
feminist  interests  into  a more  united  and  more  thoroughly 
cooperative  body. 

But,  for  the  time  being,  the  woman’s  movement  in  Latin 
America  is  to  be  distinguished  in  many  respects  from  its 
American  congener. 

DIFFERENT  MEANS  EMPLOYED  BY  THE  AMERICAN  AND  THE 
LATIN  AMERICAN  WOMAN 

Like  the  American  businessman,  the  American  feminist 
has  concentrated  her  efforts  from  the  very  beginning  on 
her  main  objective.  “Votes  for  Women’’  has  been  her 
goal.  Having  won  that,  she  is  fully  confident  that  all  the 
subsidiary  benefits  to  woman  will  naturally  follow : and 


&88  The  Position  of  Woman 

she  is  scarcely  likely  to  be  disappointed.  Through  her 
voting  power  she  can  force  proper  legislation  for  women 
and  children,  purify  the  social  atmosphere,  command  edu- 
cational advantages,  share  in  the  control  of  public  affairs, 
and  help  elect  officials  in  whose  platforms  she  sees  distinct 
public  advantages.  She  has  acquired  power  first,  and  now 
can  apply  it  in  any  direction  that  may  seem  best  to  her. 
Not  suffering  from  burdensome  legal  disqualifications  at 
all  comparable  with  the  shackles  of  the  southern  European 
or  Latin  American  woman,  she  has  been  able  to  husband 
her  strength  and  to  deliver  the  coup  de  grace  with  dispatch 
and  finish. 

The  Latin  American  feminist,  on  the  other  hand,  has 
chosen  the  slower  path  of  the  gradual  assumption  of  duties 
and  privileges  suitable  to  her  sex.  With  the  exception  of 
those  advanced  spirits  mentioned  above — to  whom  must  be 
added  the  influential  Club  de  Sefioras  (Women’s  Club)  of 
Chile — the  Latin  American  feminist  is  less  concerned  for 
the  moment  with  the  acquisition  of  the  vote  than  with  the 
acquisition  of  the  power  to  befriend  the  helpless,  protect 
the  mothers,  watch  over  the  children,  guide  the  wayward, 
further  the  education  of  womanhood,  and  uproot  the  most 
harmful  of  the  social  vices. 

The  Latin  American  feminine  temperament,  which  is 
sympathetic  to  a fault  and  drawn  to  works  of  charitable- 
ness, explains  the  present  method  of  approach  to  the  solu- 
tion of  the  main  problem.  In  a way,  it  appears  more 
attractive  and,  perhaps,  more  womanly,  than  the  American 
procedure  of  compulsion  by  indignation  and  the  applica- 
tion of  public  pressure.  If,  by  her  deeds,  the  Latin  Amer- 
ican woman  can  demonstrate  her  capabilities  in  the 
handling  of  public  questions  of  great  moment  she  may  then 
with  justice,  in  the  opinion  of  some  of  her  leaders,  claim 
the  rights  which  have  already  been  granted  to  100,000,000 
women  in  the  United  States,  Australia,  Sweden,  Norway, 
Russia,  Great  Britain,  Poland,  Italy,  Germany,  Austria, 
Holland,  Serbia. 

Time  alone  can  tell  whether  that  course  will  bring  the 
desired  results  in  the  way  of  legal  and  political  consider- 


The  Position  of  Woman 


289 


ation.  From  the  experience  of  other  countries,  it  may  be 
surmised  that  the  group  of  social  leaders  and  working- 
women  now  demanding  the  vote  in  the  southern  portion 
of  South  America  will  accomplish  more,  and  with  greater 
speed.  In  the  meantime,  the  feminine  sphere  of  public 
action  has  been  vastly  expanded. 

Progress  in  feminism  in  the  United  States  has  been 
achieved  by  a combination  of  laboring,  social,  and  intel- 
lectual forces.  It  has  moved,  not  from  the  top  downward, 
but  in  both  directions,  the  working  women  and  the  labor 
organizations  having  had  an  equal  share  in  its  accomplish- 
ment with  the  professional  social  workers,  the  women  of 
wealth  and  high  social  position,  and  the  thoughtful  men 
and  women  who  have  wished  to  right  an  immemorial  wrong. 

SOCIAL  FACTORS  IN  THE  WOMAN’S  MOVEMENT  IN  LATIN 
AMERICA 

The  woman’s  movement  in  Latin  America  has  enlisted 
primarily  the  traveled  and  well-read  world — society  women, 
writers,  the  wives  and  daughters  of  statesmen,  and,  in 
general,  the  classes  free  from  economic  worry.  Men  of 
influence,  also,  as  has  been  indicated,  are  lending  both 
moral  and  material  support:  and  it  is  no  longer  true — 
if  it  ever  was  true — to  say  that  there  is  absolute  opposition 
between  the  aspirations  of  the  women  and  the  convictions 
of  the  men.  There  are  in  Latin  America  ardent  masculine 
adherents  to  the  feminine  cause,  through  whom  much  of 
the  practical  work  has  been  done. 

The  exhortation  of  one  of  these,  Don  Ricardo  Salas 
Edwards,  of  Chile,  to  the  Club  de  Senoras  of  Santiago 
outlines  in  brief  the  scope  of  women’s  activities  in  Latin 
America  and  rightly  lays  the  main  stress  on  the  social 
amelioration  which  women,  far  better  than  anybody  else, 
can  bring  to  pass: 

How,  without  the  cooperation  of  the  public  authorities,  can 
we  foster  the  rapid  improvement  of  dwellings  and  the  general 
health,  and  how  can  we  honestly  apply  the  existing  restrictions 
upon  alcohol,  which  our  mayors  do  not  enforce,  if  there  be  not 
felt  in  our  municipalities,  as  in  other  countries,  the  direct  action 


290 


The  Position  of  Woman 


of  the  woman  citizen  who  keeps  guard  over  the  family  and  the 
race;  and  how  shall  we  succeed  in  securing,  without  her  decided 
political  activity,  the  just  regulation  of  labor  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a system  for  the  participation  of  the  working  man  in 
the  benefits  of  industry,  which  is  the  true  and  only  solution  of 
this  artificial  antagonism  of  interests? 

The  hour  for  doing  something  presses,  although  the  political 
leaders  of  the  present  day  are  not  aware  of  its  passage.  You, 
who  feel  and  comprehend  the  sufferings  of  this  people,  are  the 
ones  who  can  best  contribute  to  this  undertaking,  before  the 
Chilean  masses  give  themselves  up  in  desperation  to  the  agitators, 
and  before  the  industrials,  beaten  by  exorbitant  demands,  close 
their  workshops. 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  WOMAN 

The  education  of  girls  has,  of  course,  appealed  with 
especial  force  to  everybody  who  has  the  advancement  of 
women  at  heart.  Without  education,  the  Latin  American 
woman  remains  virtually  a peon,  and  a dead-weight  in 
any  scheme  of  regeneration.  She  cannot  properly  bring 
up  her  family,  develop  her  own  latent  abilities,  communi- 
cate further  than  the  sound  of  her  voice  will  carry,  have 
any  sort  of  inner  life  beyond  that  implanted  in  her  by  the 
Church,  nor  prepare  herself  for  any  higher  type  of  work 
than  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  servant  or  the  farm-hand.  Since 
her  influence  in  the  home  is  paramount,  her  education, 
because  of  its  transmitted  effect  on  the  growing  generation, 
becomes  a most  vital  social  question. 

Natural  isolation  in  Latin  America,  due  to  the  great 
distances,  the  topography  of  the  country,  and  the  insuffi- 
ciency of  means  of  communication,  accentuates  the  common 
Latin  tendency  to  neglect  schooling  and  to  pay  practically 
no  attention  to  the  education  of  the  women  of  the  poorer 
classes,  especially  when  they  are  withdrawn  from  urban 
contact.  Any  era  pretending  to  be  modern  must  remedy 
this  defect. 

It  is  precisely  in  this  regard  that  the  twentieth  century 
in  Latin  America  shows  admirable  signs  of  promise:  and 
the  prominent  women  of  Latin  America,  through  private 
means  and  the  arousing  of  public  sentiment,  are  rapidly 
directing  the  education  of  women  into  the  main  channel 


The  Position  of  Woman 


291 


already  established  in  the  more  progressive  countries  of 
the  world.  The  illiteracy  figures  for  some  of  the  Latin 
American  countries,  though  unfair  to  some  of  them  in  any 
comparison  with  the  figures  for  other  countries  on  account 
of  the  different  bases  employed,  demonstrate  that  the  girls 
as  well  as  the  boys  are  receiving  an  increasing  measure 
of  instruction,  and  that  several  of  the  republics  are  even 
ahead  of  some  of  the  southern  European  countries. 

Illiteracy  in  some  European  Countries 


Illiterates 

Country  Per  Cent  Basis  Year 

Italy  37.0  Population  over  10  years  1911 

Greece 57.2  “ “ 10  “ 1907 

Spain  58.7  “ “ 10  “ 1900 

Portugal 68.9  “ “ 10  “ 1911 

Illiteracy  in  some  Latin  American  Republics 

Uruguay  39.8  Population  over  5 years  1908 

Cuba  43.4  “ “ 10  “ 1907 

Chile  49.9  “ “ 10  “ 1907 

Argentina  54.4  “ “ 6 “ 1895 


The  four  countries  just  mentioned  maintain  school- 
systems  resembling  our  own,  Cuba  having  inherited  the 
system  founded  by  American  educators  during  the  Amer- 
ican occupation,  Argentina  having  developed  its  scheme  of 
instruction  from  the  plans  formulated  by  President 
Sarmiento,  and  Chile  and  Uruguay  showing  constantly  in 
their  public  school  work  the  effect  of  proximity  to  Argen- 
tina. Coeducation  is  common  in  many  of  the  republics 
in  the  smaller  schools,  and  appears  to  be  gaining  in  favor, 
chiefly  as  the  result  of  the  example  set  in  the  United 
States. 

The  higher  education  in  the  southern  republics  is  gen- 
erally open  to  women,  who  are  now  taking  advantage  of 
their  opportunities  in  large  numbers ; normal  schools  pro- 
vide instruction  for  thousands  of  women  preparing  for 
the  teaching  profession ; and  in  Colombia  a University  for 
Women  has  lately  been  founded.  Private  schools  for  girls 
are  common  in  all  the  Latin  American  countries,  one  of 


292 


The  Position  of  Woman 


them,  the  Santiago  College  of  Chile,  having  an  enrollment 
of  over  four  hundred  young  women,  to  whom  all  the  sub- 
jects in  the  curriculum  are  taught  in  English. 

That  the  women  have  come  to  stay  in  the  institutions 
of  higher  learning  is  evidenced  by  the  opening  this  year 
(1921)  of  a women’s  dormitory  in  Santiago,  in  connection 
with  the  University  of  Chile.  The  public  school  system  of 
Bolivia  is  in  process  of  reformation  under  American 
guidance,  and  many  of  its  gifted  women  teachers  are  com- 
ing to  the  United  States  for  inspiration. 

Throughout  Latin  America  as  a whole,  American  educa- 
tional methods  are  in  great  favor,  American  private  schools 
are  highly  successful  and  influential,  and  the  ideas  brought 
back  by  the  hundreds  of  Latin  American  students  in  our 
schools  are  being  put  into  practice  in  various  localities. 
The  attendance  of  Latin  American  women  in  our  colleges 
and  universities  is  particularly  significant  for  feminine  edu- 
cation in  Latin  America,  since  each  student,  on  her  return 
to  her  country,  regards  herself  as  a missionary  and,  by 
reason  of  her  added  prestige,  exerts  an  unusual  amount 
«f  power. 


TOCATIONAL  EDUCATION  FOR  GIRLS 

Aside  from  the  more  general  aspects  of  feminine  educa- 
tion, the  most  notable  innovation,  with  a decidely  demo- 
cratic cast,  lies  in  the  establishment  of  professional  and 
trade  schools  for  girls,  often  directly  controlled  by  women ’s 
associations. 

This  new  trend,  if  unaccompanied  by  any  other  modern 
manifestation,  would  be  sufficient  to  set  the  present  age 
in  the  instruction  of  woman  apart  from  any  preceding 
age. 

The  distaste  for  manual  labor  has  been  one  of  the  dis- 
tinguishing traits  of  Latin  American  psychology,  and  has 
often  been  accepted  as  an  inherent  characteristic.  Degrad- 
ing as  it  has  been  regarded  for  men  of  any  social  preten- 
sions, it  has  been  considered  absolutely  unthinkable  for 
women.  The  American,  who  has  been  brought  up  to  look 
upon  work  as  noble,  dignified,  and  necessary  in  itself,  can 


The  Position  of  Woman 


293 


have  no  sympathy  with  the  Latin  American  attitude,  and 
cannot  appreciate  in  the  slightest  degree  the  revulsion  of 
feeling  which  the  prospect  of  having  to  earn  one’s  living 
by  the  sweat  of  the  brow  awakens  in  the  soul  of  the  Latin 
American  boy  or  girl  of  good  family.  Only  southerners 
who  grew  up  in  our  country  while  slavery  was  in  vogue 
can  understand  the  horror  attendant  on  any  social  change 
which  obliges  men  to  work  in  the  fields,  to  lay  bricks,  to 
toil  at  the  forge,  to  wield  the  tools  of  any  manual  trade, 
and  compels  women  to  soil  their  dainty  fingers  in  any 
gainful  occupation,  or  even  to  earn  their  daily  bread  as 
teachers  or  nurses.  The  thing  simply  was  not  done.  It 
was  against  the  instincts  of  the  race. 

Rather  a crust  and  a glass  of  cold  water,  a desolate  room 
and  threadbare  clothes  than  the  unspeakable  social  crime 
of  servile  labor.  Hence,  on  the  part  of  the  men,  the  ambi- 
tion for  “white  collar”  positions,  the  competition  for  gov- 
ernment clerkships,  and  the  almost  incredible  extension 
of  such  immaculate  sinecures  as  a result  of  insistence  with 
ruling  political  administrations.  A considerable  portion 
of  the  spoils  system  .in  Latin  America  may,  in  truth,  be 
ascribed  to  the  Latin  American’s  traditional  dread  of 
honest  physical  work.  As  for  the  women,  they  could,  in 
such  circumstances,  do  nothing — unless  the  obsession  for 
a novio  (fiance)  and  the  use  of  the  most  subtle  and  refined 
arts  for  ensnaring  him  may  be  accounted  something  of  a 
laborious  nature. 

Many  so-called  “inherent”  characteristics  have,  in  „ne 
evolution  of  modern  civilization,  had  to  give  way  before 
the  stress  of  economic  or  social  necessity : and  one  of  them 
in  Latin  America  which  may  be  observed  to  be  yielding 
visibly  before  changed  conditions  is  the  superstition  about 
what  women  may  or  may  not  do  in  order  to  secure  the 
means  of  subsistence.  The  leaders  of  the  woman’s  move- 
ment are  now  convinced  that  public  opinion  must  encour- 
age, rather  than  deride,  the  woman  who  has  to  earn  her 
living  by  honorable  work,  and  that  governments  must 
supply  the  training  requisite  for  enabling  woman  to  make 
a place  for  herself  in  the  industrial  world. 


294 


The  Position  of  Woman 


THE  PERUVIAN  SOCIETY  OF  FEMININE  INDUSTRY 

In  accordance  with  this  feeling,  the  society  of  Industria 
Femenil  (Feminine  Industry)  of  Peru  has  acquired  offices 
in  one  of  the  main  streets  of  Lima  for  the  purpose  of 
exhibiting  and  offering  for  sale  the  handiwork  of  women 
of  the  higher  classes  who,  through  reverses  of  fortune  or 
because  of  insufficient  income,  must  toil  in  order  that  they 
may  live.  Women  who  wish  to  take  advantage  of  offering 
for  sale  articles  which  they  have  made — and  Peruvian 
women  are  adepts,  as  are  most  Latin  American  women,  in 
the  production  of  embroidery,  drawn-work,  laces,  certain 
delicate  toys,  purses,  hats,  fragile  trinkets — are  not  re- 
quired to  give  their  names  to  the  society,  but  are  assigned 
a number,  thus  preserving  their  incognito,  and  are  paid 
the  profits  of  their  labor  after  a very  small  commission 
for  the  expenses  of  the  society  has  been  deducted.  In 
addition  to  this,  the  Industria  Femenil  has  been  given 
charge  of  the  national  workshops  in  which  military  and 
police  uniforms  are  manufactured,  has  entirely  ousted  the 
private  contractors  who  formerly  exploited  the  women 
operatives,  and  has  increased  the  pay  in  the  various 
branches  of  the  work.  To-day  the  Industria  Femenil 
employs  hundreds  of  women  in  its  own  shops,  besides 
enabling  large  numbers  to  earn  money  for  their  needs  with- 
out sacrificing  their  sentiments — keen,  indeed,  though 
undoubtedly  false  and  foolish  in  our  eyes — of  conventional 
respectability. 

That  very  desire  for  anonymity  shielded  by  the  Industria 
Femenil  of  Lima  is,  however,  a quality  which  other  thought- 
ful women  leaders  in  Latin  America  are  most  anxious  to 
do  away  with.  So  long  as  manual  labor  is  considered  dis- 
graceful, the  economic  situation  of  women  can  hardly 
improve.  The  antidote,  of  course,  is  training  in  schools 
and  the  creation  of  a belief  in  the  dignity  of  all  work 
through  the  respect  shown  for  it  officially  and  by  persons 
of  social  rank.  The  Latin  American  is  particularly  sus- 
ceptible to  suggestion  through  the  schools:  and  what  the 


The  Position  of  Woman 


295 


schools  stamp  as  honorable  will,  in  the  long  run,  be  accepted 
as  honorable  in  ordinary  life. 

Something  of  the  sort  has  taken  place  in  our  country 
in  heightening  the  respect  for  farming  by  making  schools 
of  agriculture  an  integral  part  of  our  universities : so  much 
so  in  fact,  that  there  often  appears  to  be  no  appreciable' 
difference  between  culture  and  agriculture. 

Chile  has  paid  special  attention  to  this  psychological 
phase  of  practical  education  and  has  established  trade 
schools  for  girls  in  most  of  the  larger  towns.  Argentina 
and  Brazil  are  likewise  doing  much  in  this  direction,  Argen- 
tina now  having  about  a score  of  trade  schools  in  which 
instruction  is  given  in  dressmaking,  lace-making,  glove- 
making, metal  work,  telegraphy,  millinery,  embroidery, 
drawing,  and  painting,  and  Brazil  possessing  numerous 
technical  schools  for  girls.  The  association  known  as  the 
Obra  Conservation  de  la  Fe,  of  Buenos  Aires,  maintains 
classes  in  the  domestic  sciences  for  girls,  teaches  the  design- 
ing, cutting,  and  making  of  garments  and  the  operation 
of  electric  sewing-machines,  and  not  only  offers  instruction 
free  of  charge,  but  also  remunerates  students  from  the 
profits  obtained  from  the  sale  of  articles,  thereby  making 
it  possible  for  the  young  women  to  earn  fair  wages  while 
learning  the  trade. 

A Department  School  of  Arts  and  Trades  for  girls  has 
recently  been  founded  in  Bogota,  Colombia,  and  a Profes- 
sional Institute  for  young  women  in  La  Paz,  Bolivia.  In 
the  city  of  Santa  Ana,  Salvador,  a feminine  society  called 
El  Porvenir  de  la  Mujer  (the  Future  of  Woman)  is 
occupied  in  looking  after  the  physical  and  intellectual  edu- 
cation of  women,  assisting  the  needy,  and  establishing  night 
schools,  savings  banks,  and  mutual  benefit  associations.  The 
Government  of  Peru,  in  1920,  decreed  the  establishment 
of  a professional  and  trade  school  for  women  in  Lima,  in 
which  the  commercial  branches,  fine  arts,  domestic  science, 
and  dressmaking,  hat-making,  embroidery,  and  the  like  will 
]be  taught. 


296 


The  Position  of  Woman 


THE  PROFESSION  OF  TEACHING  AND  THE  DIGNITY  OF  WORK 

As  in  the  United  States,  the  profession  which  is  proving 
most  attractive  to  the  women  of  Latin  America  is  teach- 
ing. Though  nowhere  overpaid,  and  almost  everywhere 
sadly  underpaid,  teaching  offers,  particularly  to  women, 
certain  advantages,  such  as  social  standing  and  the  forma- 
tion of  the  character  of  the  young,  which  make  up  in  a 
great  measure  for  the  poor  pay  and  the  physical  and  mental 
strain.  The  army  of  women  teachers  in  the  United  States 
now  numbers  almost  550,000  and  is  steadily  increasing. 
The  influence  of  this  vast  body  of  women  of  education  and 
intellect,  permeating  the  whole  country  and  shaping  the 
thought  of  even  the  most  retired  localities,  is  well-nigh 
incalculable. 

The  teacher,  as  a class,  is  rarely  satisfied  with  obsolete 
shibboleths,  is  obliged  to  keep  up  with  current  topics,  is 
usually  to  be  found  in  the  vanguard  of  social  progress, 
and  cannot,  however,  hard  he  may  try  to  divorce  his  private 
opinions  from  his  class-room  work,  keep  from  imbuing  his 
students  with  some  of  his  ideals.  The  woman  teacher, 
above  all,  catches  ideals  and  spreads  them.  If  those  ideals 
have  to  do  with  the  improvement  of  her  own  sex,  it  is  easy 
to  see  what  a force  for  the  dissemination  of  thought  about 
the  position  of  woman  any  considerable  corps  of  women 
teachers  must  constitute. 

Argentina  has  now  between  20,000  and  25,000  women 
teachers  in  the  public  schools,  or  about  eighty  per  cent  of 
the  entire  teaching  force:  and  any  doubt  as  to  the  growth 
of  a wholesome  feminine  spirit  in  Argentina  may  be  set  at 
rest  by  the  mere  statement  of  a fact  of  such  magnitude. 

The  same  principle  holds  good  for  all  the  Latin  American 
countries.  Where  the  staff  of  women  teachers  has  been 
largest,  there  woman  has  made  her  most  notable  advance- 
ment, not  alone  in  the  profession  of  teaching  or  in  her 
general  education,  but  in  other  professions  and  trades,  too. 
For,  as  Dona  Elvira  Garcia  y Garcia,  of  Cuzco,  Peru,  the 
distinguished  teacher  and  proponent  of  the  improvement 


The  Position  of  Woman  297 

of  women,  has  aptly  said  in  a recent  letter  to  the  present 
writer : 

It  was  in  teaching  that  woman  [in  Peru]  took  her  first  steps 
toward  independence.  From  there,  her  horizon  broadened.  She 
found  her  way  into  the  workshops,  the  factories,  and  into  every 
branch  of  activity,  and  is  now  hammering  out  her  fate,  on  equal 
terms  with  man,  in  every  field  of  endeavor. 

The  normal  school,  therefore,  has  become  in  Latin 
America  one  of  the  strongest  divisions  of  the  educational 
system.  Its  preponderating  enrollment  of  women  signifies 
that,  as  in  the  United  States,  its  ideals,  curriculum,  and 
methods  must  largely  reflect  feminine  needs  and  feminine 
psychology.  Because  of  the  solidarity  of  school  life,  the 
agitation  and  discussion  of  problems  relating  to  the  educa- 
tion of  women  cannot  help  becoming  prominent  in  these 
feminine  centers,  and  as  the  most  advanced  normal  schools 
contain  courses  devoted  to  handwork  and  the  domestic  arts, 
the  questions  which  arise  are  likely  to  be  practical  rather 
than  purely  theoretical. 

In  other  words,  the  training  received  by  normal  school 
students  is  such  as  to  encourage  them  to  emphasize  in  their 
own  teaching  the  modern  view  of  home  and  of  the  relation 
of  woman  to  society.  This  is  the  more  probable,  since  the 
Latin  American  governments  are  now  particularly 
solicitous  regarding  the  training  of  women  for  life,  and 
since,  even  in  the  universities,  women  show  a surprising 
tendency  to  take  up  the  vocational  subjects. 

Professor  Edgar  Ewing  Brandon,  in  his  thorough  and 
succinct  monograph  on  Latin- American  Universities  and 
Special  Schools,  calls  special  attention  to  this  aspect  of 
the  higher  education  of  women: 

The  large  number  of  woman  students  in  certain  departments 
of  the  universities  is  astonishing,  considering  the  long  tradition 
and  pronounced  prejudice  against  coeducation  in  general  in  Latin 
countries  and  the  comparative  rarity  of  the  practice  in  higher 
elementary  schools  even  to-day  in  Latin  America.  It  should  be 
noticed  that  the  movement  is,  in  one  respect,  quite  different  from 
that  in  North  America.  In  the  United  States  it  is  in  the  college  of 
liberal  arts  that  the  enrollment  of  women  has  grown  prodigiously 
during  the  last  generation.  The  motive  on  the  part  of  the  major- 


298 


The  Position  of  Woman 


ity  is  a desire  for  a higher  general  education  without  reference 
to  its  application  to  any  particular  vocation.  In  Latin  America, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  is  the  vocational  departments  that  women 
have  invaded.  They  study  to  be  teachers,  physicians,  pharmacists, 
or  dentists.  If  they  were  seeking  a general  literary  education, 
they  would  enroll  in  the  faculty  of  social  and  political  sciences, 
which  offers  more  cultural  studies  than  any  other  department 
of  the  university,  but  this  is  precisely  where  none  are  found. 
Their  presence  in  such  large  numbers  in  the  faculty  of  letters 
and  philosophy  in  Santiago,  Buenos  Aires,  and  in  the  correspond- 
ing department  of  La  Plata  is  because  they  can  there  prepare 
for  teaching. 

In  Peru  and  others  of  the  Latin  American  republics,  as 
a result  of  the  professional  specialization  of  women — a 
development  which  the  conservative  Latin  American  would, 
a quarter  of  a century  ago,  have  pronounced  impossible 
— not  a few  of  the  distinguished  names  in  medicine,  den- 
tistry, and  law  are  those  of  women. 

As  never  before  in  the  history  of  the  Latin  American 
republics,  women  are  trying  hard,  in  the  face  of  social, 
legal,  and  economic  obstacles,  to  work  out  that  salvation 
of  which  they  stand  sorely  in  need  in  modern  civilization. 
Their  progress  is  necessarily  slow,  and,  if  the  words  of 
some  travelers  and  writers  are  to  be  taken  implicitly,  so 
little  has  been  done  as  to  put  any  serious  mention  of  it 
on  a par  with  the  inflated  propaganda  which  extols  the 
Latin  Americans  above  all  other  nations  and  suppresses 
every  detail  of  a critical  or  derogatory  nature. 

The  latter  point  of  view  is  undoubtedly  that  referred 
to  and  flatly  answered  by  Professor  Ross  in  the  preface  to 
South  of  Panama: 

“In  writing  about  the  South  Americans,”  said  one  of  our  Con- 
suls, “no  doubt  you  will  always  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  the  tradi- 
tional policy  of  the  United  States  to  cultivate  their  friendship.” 

I have  done  nothing  of  the  sort.  My  first  obligation  is  not  to 
National  Policy  but  to  Truth. 

The  naked  truth,  to  be  sure,  may  often  be  disagreeable, 
of  no  special  value  to  anybody,  and  prolific  in  injury, 
unless  indulged  in  from  sincere  sociological  or  scientific 
motives.  But  truth,  if  it  is  to  deserve  the  name  at  all,  must 
represent  the  facts  in  their  genuine  relations  and  preserve 


The  Position  of  Woman 


299 


correct  proportions  in  the  presentation  of  new  evidence. 
A traveler  may  learn  that,  in  many  Latin  American  coun- 
tries, “even  women  teachers  have  little  standing,”  and 
create  an  entirely  erroneous  impression  unless  he  hastens 
to  add  that,  in  most  of  them,  the  woman  teacher  has  already 
become  a great  power  and  the  object  of  universal  esteem, 
and  is  transforming  the  social  and  intellectual  environment 
of  Latin  America  in  an  irrevocable  manner.  Similarly, 
if  he  has  not  seen  everything  in  Latin  America — which  is 
more  than  probable — and  declares  that  woman  is  not  enter- 
ing into  competition  with  men,  he  is  misrepresenting  actual 
conditions,  though  it  may  be  unwittingly,  for  he  is  leaving 
entirely  out  of  account  the  factory  girls,  women  clerks, 
shop  girls,  stenographers,  of  the  more  cosmopolitan  coun- 
tries, the  women  butchers  of  Bogota,  Colombia,  and  the 
women  street-car  conductors  of  Santiago,  Chile. 

Social  transformations  such  as  these  come  slowly,  with- 
out doubt,  but  once  the  start  has  been  made,  the  limits 
to  which  they  may  be  extended  should  be  calculated  by 
the  foresighted  student  on  a generous  rather  than  on  a 
niggardly  scale. 

It  is  safer  for  us  to  predict,  because  of  the  sweep  of 
the  feminine  reform  around  the  world  and  the  considerable 
progress  which  has  been  made  in  several  Latin  American 
countries  in  the  status  of  woman,  that  Latin  American 
women  will  not  long  oe  behind  our  own  women  in  securing 
political,  legal,  and  economic  rights  than  it  was  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  that  all  Latin  America 
would  gain  its  independence  and  adopt  a republican  form 
of  government  within  twenty-five  years. 

The  progressive  women  of  Latin  America  are  to  be  ad- 
mired for  what  they  have  already  accomplished  in  improv- 
ing their  political  and  economic  situation,  but  they  are 
deserving  of  more  than  ordinary  admiration  for  what  they 
have  done  and  are  doing  for  their  less  fortunate  and  more 
helpless  sisters. 

“Charity”  is  too  trite  a term  to  apply  to  their  works 
of  helpfulness:  “loving  kindness”  would  be  much  more 
appropriate.  The  rather  cold,  statistical,  scientific  methods 


300 


The  Position  of  Woman 


of  our  professional  social  workers  have,  fortunately,  not 
yet  invaded  the  Latin  American  countries,  though,  as 
“cases”  multiply,  the  card-catalogue  type  of  philanthropy 
may  be  expected  to  force  its  way  into  Latin  American 
benevolence  as  a matter  of  necessity. 

The  most  remarkable  benevolent  organization  in  Latin 
America  in  many  respects  is  the  Sociedad  de  Beneficencia 
of  Buenos  Aires,  to  which  the  Government  has  entrusted 
the  care  of  most  of  the  public  philanthropic  activities  of 
the  capital.  Composed  of  sixty  prominent  women,  the 
society  carries  on  financial  operations  in  the  distribution 
of  its  benefits  on  a truly  stupendous  scale,  and  its  judg- 
ments have  rarely  been  at  fault.  Whatever  may  be  thought 
in  general  of  the  practical  ability  of  Latin  American  women, 
the  present  instance  should  give  pause  to  the  makers  of 
facile  and  uncomplimentary  generalizations. 

For  almost  a century,  groups  of  women  belonging  to  this 
organization  have  handled  the  increasingly  large  sums  of 
money  put  into  their  hands  and  have  used  them  so  wisely 
that  the  utmost  confidence  is  felt  by  all  parties  and  denomi- 
nations in  their  sound  business  sense,  their  integrity,  their 
impartiality,  and  their  sympathetic  spirit  of  helpfulness. 
The  annual  income  of  the  society  now  exceeds  four  million 
dollars.  What  it  means  to  receive  this  great  sum  from 
the  most  varied  sources  and  to  expend  it  in  a manner  above 
criticism,  some  of  our  large  benevolent  associations  will 
understand.  That  a simple  group  of  Argentine  ladies  is 
capable  of  administering  funds  of  this  size  should  cause 
hasty  critics  of  the  Latin  American  feminine  temperament 
to  revise  their  opinions  based  on  hearsay  or  on  the  notion 
of  what  women  ought  to  be  able  to  do  who  apparently 
have  never  enjoyed  the  training  and  experience  of  the 
modern  American  or  European  woman. 

Perhaps  our  college  or  business  trained  woman  might 
even  get  new  light  on  what  constitutes  real  administrative 
ability  and  experience  by  watching  an  Argentine,  Brazilian, 
or  Mexican  lady  in  her  multiple  responsibilities  on  the  vast 
estancias  or  fazendas  over  which  she  exercises  moral, 
spiritual,  and  domestic  control! 


The  Position  of  Woman 


301 


WOMEN  AND  THE  ERADICATION  OF  SOCIAL  EVILS 

The  social  activities  of  Latin  American  women  are  not 
restricted  to  financial  aid  to  the  needy,  but  embrace  nearly 
all  the  problems  which  affect  modern  society.  The  regu- 
lation of  the  social  evil,  though  not  discussed  with  the  free- 
dom characteristic  of  our  most  prominent  writers  and 
lecturers,  is  very  present  in  the  minds  of  Latin  American 
women  leaders  and  will  undoubtedly  be  agitated  publicly 
within  the  next  decade.  The  topic  requires  guarded  treat- 
ment and  unusual  diplomacy,  partly  because  of  the  extreme 
care  taken  in  keeping  pure  the  atmosphere  in  which  the 
Latin  American  girl  grows  up,  or  at  least  in  preventing 
her  from  learning  that  the  world  beyond  her  secluded 
ken  is  vile  with  pollution,  and  partly  because  what  Mr. 
J.  O.  P.  Bland  felicitously  terms  “morganatic  attachments” 
are  one  of  the  traditional  bases  of  Latin  society,  whether 
Chilean,  Peruvian,  Porto  Rican — or  French,  Spanish,  or 
Italian. 

Where  the  married  woman  alone  has  social  standing  and 
the  pressing  need  and  overruling  ambition  of  every  woman 
is  to  secure  a husband,  male  delinquencies  are  necessarily 
condoned,  even  if  not  pardoned. 

But  Latin  American  women  of  the  better  classes  travel 
much,  acquire  foreign  views,  learn  of  the  diseases  and 
degeneration  caused  by  the  social  evil,  and  find  that  what 
was  formerly  taboo  in  one’s  private  thoughts  can  now  bo 
discussed  in  general  conversation  without  loss  of  caste,  and, 
indeed,  with  distinction.  As  feminine  independence  in- 
creases and  the  sense  of  individual  dignity  becomes  stronger, 
a problem  that  so  nearly  touches  the  home  and  the  wel- 
fare of  adolescent  boys  cannot  remain  unsolved  indefinitely. 

Other  social  vices,  such  as  addiction  to  the  lottery — 
which  is  fostered  by  many  of  the  governments  and  is  not 
an  absolutely  unmixed  evil,  since  a large  part  of  the  earn- 
ings is  devoted  to  charitable  purposes — gambling  in  other 
forms,  petty  thievery,  cruelty  to  animals,  and  alcoholism 
are  handled  without  gloves.  The  intemperance  of  the 
Indians,  comparable  with  that  of  our  Indians,  has  always 


302 


The  Position  of  Woman 


been  a source  of  anxiety,  not  only  on  account  of  the  social 
and  moral  harm  involved,  but  also  on  account  of  the 
disastrous  economic  consequences. 

Latterly,  the  question  has  become  much  more  complicated 
by  the  increase  in  alcoholism  among  the  working  classes 
of  the  southern  part  of  South  America,  and  both  govern- 
mental and  private  agencies  have  undertaken  to  combat 
the  scourge.  The  women  of  Argentina  and  Chile  have 
displayed  especial  energy  in  attempting  to  stem  the  rising 
tide  of  intemperance,  have  organized  on  the  American  plan, 
and  are  carrying  the  campaign  into  the  schools. 

An  instructive  method  for  educating  the  children  on 
the  score  of  temperance  was  recently  employed  in  Buenos 
Aires  by  the  National  Board  of  Women  of  the  Temperance 
League  and  consisted  of  a comprehensive  anti-alcoholic 
school  exhibit  of  unique  interest.  In  Porto  Rico  prohibi- 
tion was  voted  on  July  16,  1917,  or  five  months  before  the 
United  States  Congress  submitted  the  eighteenth  amend- 
ment to  the  state  legislatures,  carried  by  a majority  of 
38,000  in  a total  vote  of  160,000,  and  took  effect  March  2, 
1918,  or  nearly  two  years  before  the  amendment  was  pro- 
claimed effective  in  the  United  States.  The  assistance  lent 
by  the  women  of  the  island  was  one  of  the  most  important 
factors  in  the  victory. 

THE  CHILD-WELFARE  WORK  OF  LATIN  AMERICAN  WOMEN 

The  favorite  social  service  of  Latin  American  women, 
however,  in  which  all  participate  with  the  most  heartfelt 
sincerity,  is  the  culto  del  nifio  (worship  of  the  child)  or 
child-welfare.  As  a rule,  Latin  American  children  are 
treated  affectionately,  often  too  leniently  for  their  own  good, 
and  given  an  exaggerated  sense  of  self-sufficiency.  Their 
importance  in  the  social  scheme  is  much  greater  than  that 
of  our  children.  They  constitute  the  one  firm  bond  in  a 
marriage  relationship  which  too  frequently  is  not  even 
honored  with  the  semblance  of  legality.  To  the  mother, 
they  are  a real  protection : to  the  father,  they  furnish  gen- 
erally the  only  means  for  the  expression  of  simple,  natural 
affections  and  sentiments  in  a type  of  social  intercourse 


30$ 


The  Position  of  Woman 

which  is  commonly  highly  sophisticated.  Were  it  not  for 
the  mother,  the  average  Latin  American  child  would  be 
a most  forlorn  little  creature,  lacking  that  genuine  playful 
comradeship  which  is  one  of  the  chief  features  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  or  Teutonic  family  life. 

But  aside  from  his  domestic  role,  the  Latin  American 
child  represents,  among  nations  brought  up  in  an  affec- 
tionate adoration  of  the  Christ-Child,  an  ideal  which  per- 
sists in  the  Latin  home-circle  as  a result  of  religious  worship 
and  the  observance  of  children’s  holidays.  The  child  is, 
in  fact,  the  center  of  family  interest,  and  is  invested  with 
a religious  significance  totally  foreign  among  other  peoples : 
the  culto  del  nino  is  becoming,  as  has  been  stated  by  several 
writers,  a national  religion,  or  rather,  if  we  bear  in  mind 
that  the  same  feeling  is  prevalent  in  all  the  Latin  Amer- 
ican countries,  an  international  religion.  The  tender, 
idyllic  emotions  of  both  women  and  men  cluster  about  the 
child  as  much  as  about  love  itself,  and  often,  it  would  seem, 
in  an  even  greater  degree. 

To  shelter  the  child,  innumerable  societies  have  sprung 
up  all  over  Latin  America,  one  of  the  most  notable  being 
the  Cuna  Maternal  (Mother’s  Nursery  or  creche),  founded 
by  Dona  Juana  Alarco  de  Dammert,  which  cares  for  the 
children  of  working  women,  trains  nurses,  instructs 
mothers,  and  labors  to  create  a wholesome  environment  for 
children  of  the  poorer  classes;  laws  are  promoted  for  pro- 
hibiting factory  owners  from  exploiting  the  young;  school 
authorities  are  persuaded  to  provide  a lunch,  or  at  least 
a glass  of  milk,  to  school  children ; orphanages  receive  spe- 
cial attention ; private  reform  schools  for  girls,  such  as  the 
casa  coreccional  de  nihas  of  Antofagasta,  Chile,  which  the 
League  of  Chilean  Women  is  constructing,  are  founded; 
and  means  are  sought,  and  are  never  difficult  to  obtain, 
for  furnishing  to  poor  and  sick  children  those  innocent 
pleasures  without  which  childhood  is  a sad  and  dreary 
existence. 

Of  all  the  social  activities  of  Latin  American  women, 
none  is  inspired  by  a more  beautiful  sentiment  than  the 
culto  del  niho,  and  none  offers  greater  hopes  of  widespread 


304 


The  Position  of  Woman 


good.  The  solicitude  for  child  welfare  is  one  of  the  most 
affecting  indications  of  social  improvement  in  Latin 
America. 

GREATER  FREEDOM  NOW  PERMITTED  WOMEN  IN  THE  LARGER 

CITIES 

Any  examination  of  the  position  of  woman  in  Latin 
America,  however  superficial,  shows  that  there  is  a wide 
difference  between  to-day  and  yesterday.  Organization  is 
the  watchword,  and  the  freedom  enjoyed  by  women  in 
England  and  the  United  States  is  the  ultimate  aim.  The 
day  of  the  duena  is  almost  over  in  the  metropolitan  cities. 
Co-education  and  the  popularity  of  English  or  American 
schools  in  Latin  America  are  breaking  down  the  barriers 
of  segregation. 

The  Rua  Ouvidor  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  now  sees  women 
shopping  or  attending  the  motion  picture  houses  unaccom- 
panied by  a relative.  The  carriages  in  Buenos  Aires  are 
no  longer  closed,  the  young  ladies  dress  in  the  full  Parisian 
style,  using  no  mantillas  to  hide  their  charms,  and  women 
of  all  ages  pass  in  and  out  of  Harrods,  making  their  own 
purchases  and  driving  their  own  automobiles.  In  Buenos 
Aires,  Montevideo,  Santiago,  the  athletic  girl,  after  the 
Anglo-Saxon  style,  is  beginning  to  engage  in  health-giving 
sports.  Occasionally,  as  in  Chile,  a woman’s  club  may  be 
found,  which,  though  at  present  looked  at  askance  by  the 
great  body  of  domesticated  women,  will  probably  have 
plenty  of  followers  as  English  and  American  customs  con- 
tinue to  give  the  tone  in  Latin  American  society.  The 
Young  Women’s  Christian  Association,  implanted  in  many 
Latin  American  cities  by  American  and  English  headquar- 
ters, and  often  administered  by  American  and  English 
women,  are  drawing  girls  from  their  seclusion  and  giving 
them  ideals  of  self-reliance  and  cooperation. 

Women  like  Teresa  Carreno,  Dona  Mercedes  Gailbrois 
de  Ballesteros,  of  Colombia,  who  was  awarded  this  year 
the  Duque  de  Alba  prize  by  the  Spanish  Royal  Academy 
of  History,  the  Senora  da  Costa,  president  of  the  Christian 
Mothers’  Association  of  Buenos  Aires  and  the  inspirer  of 


The  Position  of  Woman 


305 


the  erection  of  the  Christ  of  the  Andes — a massive  statue 
made  from  cannon  abandoned  by  the  Spaniards  and  bear- 
ing the  inscription  “Sooner  shall  these  mountains  crumble 
into  dust  than  the  people  of  Argentina  and  Chile  break  the 
peace  to  which  they  have  pledged  themselves  at  the  feet 
of  Christ,  the  Redeemer” — the  Senora  de  Menocal,  of  Cuba, 
Angelica  Palma,  Rebeca  Oquendo  de  Subercaseaux,  Dora 
Mayer,  of  Peru,  young  girls  like  Guiomar  Novaes,  of  Brazil, 
and  innumerable  others  of  great  talent  in  music,  painting, 
writing,  and  the  social  sciences  should  effectually  convince 
an  earnest  investigator  that  the  woman  of  tradition  has 
given  way  to  women  of  a new  order. 

Without  a fixed  point  for  comparison,  there  may  appear 
to  be  only  an  almost  imperceptible  motion  in  the  woman’s 
movement  in  Latin  America,  but  if  any  previous  century 
is  taken  as  a norm,  the  progress  of  recent  years  will  be  seen 
to  be  truly  remarkable.  Whether  through  choice  or  through 
compulsion,  the  Latin  American  woman  has  begun  to  live 
in  a new  world — for  the  first  time  her  new  world — the 
resources  of  which  she  cannot  now  keep  herself  from  ex- 
ploring. 


PART  111 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  FIELD  OF  OPPORTUNITY  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

Writers  on  Latin  America  have  learned  to  be  cautious 
in  representing  the  opportunities  offered  to  Americans  in 
the  neighboring  Spanish  and  Portuguese  republics.  They 
show  no  hesitancy  in  extolling  the  incalculable  undeveloped 
riches  of  Venezuela,  Colombia,  Brazil,  or  Peru,  but  speak 
slowly  and  in  measured  terms  when  the  moment  comes 
for  what  so  many  of  their  readers  are  waiting — specific 
information  as  to  the  best  method  for  securing  a livelihood 
or  a competency  in  Latin  America. 

So  long  as  the  book  or  article  deals  in  general  description, 
no  harm,  of  course,  can  result  to  the  reader : and  the  prob- 
abilities are  that  his  mind  has  been  enriched  by  new 
knowledge  and  his  spirit  refreshed  by  the  thrills  provoked 
by  strange  sights  and  customs  and  the  romantic  appeal, 
particularly  strong  upon  northerners,  of  tropical  or  far 
southern  lands.  But  as  soon  as  the  book  or  article  is  likely 
to  influence  personal  action,  which  may  possibly  lead  to 
unrealizable  hopes  or  to  unconsidered  expense,  the  author 
for  the  first  time  feels  a heavy  responsibility  weighing  upon 
him.  He  limits,  modifies,  restricts,  and  otherwise  hedges 
his  statements  about  with  guarded  qualifications.  Perhaps 
he  expects  to  be  bombarded — as  is  sometimes  actually  the 
case — by  impatient  young  college  graduates  or  clerks  with 
requests  or  demands  for  a definite  route  to  a Latin  Ameri- 
can fortune  or  for  the  names  of  companies  in  need  of  enter- 
prising assistants. 

In  such  case,  what  is  there  left  for  the  writer  to  do  but 
to  emphasize  the  need  of  some  capital,  a knowledge  of  the 
country  and  of  the  language,  patience,  hard  work,  and 

306 


The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  307 

moderate  expectations?  The  prospects  for  large  concerns 
with  plenty  of  financial  backing  are  always  admitted  to 
be  excellent : and  with  reason,  for  they  can  easily  take  care 
of  themselves.  But  who  can  have  the  heart  to  send  buoyant 
youth,  eager  for  immediate  success,  on  what  may  be  the 
wildest  of  wild  goose  chases?  Hence  the  conservative  atti- 
tude of  writers  on  Latin  America  with  regard  to  oppor- 
tunities for  the  individual  American. 

The  moral  implications  of  the  question  are,  perhaps,  over- 
estimated by  the  writers  themselves.  Instead  of  throwing 
cold  water  on  the  enthusiasm  of  young  America,  they  might 
do  more  good  by  stimulating  the  spirit  of  adventure  and 
the  inherent  energy  of  the  thousands  of  Americans  cramped 
by  the  close  confinement  of  our  predominantly  industrial 
life  and  anxious  for  broader  prospects.  Instead  of  stressing 
the  discomforts  which  may  be  suffered  at  a distance  from 
prepared  breakfast-foods,  the  electric  button,  the  delivery 
truck,  and  asphalt  pavements,  they  might  render  a real 
national  service  in  minimizing  the  essential  value  of  so 
many  features  in  our  civilization  which  are  leading  to  fatty 
degeneration  of  the  spirit  and  to  the  decadence  of  enter- 
prise. Our  robust  young  men  and  our  athletic  and  efficient 
young  women  cannot  forever  remain  tied  to  the  apron 
strings  of  the  sheltered,  monotonous  city  or  of  the  unevent- 
ful small  town  in  their  own  country. 

Precisely  what  the  young  American  to-day  needs  most  is 
the  will  to  try  new  environments.  We  have  seen  ourselves 
forced  to  adventure  far  into  exporting,  and  it  is  commonly 
conceded  that  our  whole  prosperity,  like  that  of  Great  Bri- 
tain, now  rests  on  the  amount  of  business  which  we  can 
do  with  the  outside  world.  But  can  our  exporting  business 
long  be  done  entirely  from  the  home  office?  Can  we  suc- 
cessfully compete  with  Europeans  and  Orientals  who  have 
established  outposts  and  extensions  of  their  own  nationality 
in  Latin  America?  Can  we  expect  our  business  catalogues 
to  do  for  us  what  the  personal  influence  of  millions  of  Latin 
American  Spaniards  and  Italians,  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  Germans,  and  thousands  of  French  can  do  for  Spain, 
Italy,  Germany,  and  France? 


308  The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America 


CAN  WE  HOLD  THIS  TRADE? 

The  marvel  is  that  we  seem  to  be  getting  the  trade,  even 
in  the  southern  part  of  Latin  America  and  in  spite  of 
disturbing  post-war  factors.  Our  exports  to  the  principal 
countries  have  been  steadily  rising  since  1914,  as  can  be 
seen  at  a glance: 


Exports  to  1914  1919  1920 

Argentina $45,179,000  $155,899,390  $213,725,984 

Brazil 29,964,000  114,696,309  156,740,365 

Chile  17,432,000  53,121,087  55,310,465 

Uruguay  5,641,000  31,419,669  33,720,550 

Mexico 38,749,000  131,455,101  207,854,197 

Cuba  68,884,000  278,391,222  515,082,549 


The  question  is,  “Can  we  hold  this  trade  in  the  face  of 
the  strenuous  efforts  being  made  by  the  European  countries 
to  influence  the  flow  of  commerce  in  their  direction  by  all 
the  varied  appeals  of  modern  business  ? ’ ’ 

Once  before,  we  were  favored  with  a goodly  share  of 
the  commerce  of  the  southern  republics.  In  the  Caribbean 
region,  no  fear  need  be  entertained.  We  have  there  our 
own  outposts;  and  the  short  distance  between  the  Caribbean 
republics  and  the  United  States  is  a sufficient  guarantee 
of  our  commercial  preponderance.  But,  toward  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  we  were  preponderant,  too,  in 
the  southern  half  of  Latin  America,  due  largely  to  the 
indefatigable  efforts  of  William  Wheelright  of  Newbury- 
port,  Massachusetts.  In  1852  there  were,  as  Mr.  Harry  W. 
Van  Dyke  shows,  six  hundred  vessels  flying  the  American 
flag  in  the  harbor  of  Buenos  Aires  alone,  or  “more  than 
double  the  number  from  all  other  nations  combined.” 
Later,  absorbed  in  our  internal  development  and  handi- 
capped by  the  disappearance  of  our  merchant  marine,  we 
lost  our  privileged  position  and  were  content,  until  the 
advent  of  the  European  War,  to  play  a secondary  commer- 
cial role  in  the  more  distant  section  of  the  South  American 
continent. 

It  is  now  high  time  that  we  adopted  some  of  the  features 
of  the  European  commercial  and  social  policy  to  which  we 


The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  309 


have  thus  far  paid  scant  attention.  All  that  can  be  done 
in  the  ordinary  way  of  business  we  are  doing  with  marked 
success,  and  such  an  item  as  the  sale  of  $27,000,000  worth 
of  automobiles  by  one  American  company  in  1920  to  the 
Argentine  market,  which  formerly  meant  practically  noth- 
ing to  our  automobile  manufacturers,  is  eloquent  testimony 
to  the  value  of  our  wares  and  the  effectiveness  of  our  sales- 
manship. Our  shipping  facilities  have  increased,  our  banks 
have  widely  extended  their  service,  our  business  men  in 
Latin  America  have  organized  flourishing  chambers  of  com- 
merce, and  our  purchase  of  Latin  American  products  has 
augmented  in  proportion  to  our  need  of  raw  materials. 
From  the  two  republics  of  Argentina  and  Cuba  alone  we 
imported  in  1920  supplies  to  the  amount  of  nearly' a billion 
dollars — $929,472,773,  to  be  exact — or  almost  the  equivalent 
of  the  amount  which  we  imported  from  all  Europe  in  the 
ten  months  ending  with  October  of  that  year  ($1,078,373,- 
197). 

REMARKABLE  EXPANSION  OF  AMERICAN  INVESTMENTS  IN  LATIN 

AMERICA 

American  investments  of  capital,  too,  which  formerly 
lagged  far  behind  those  of  European  countries,  have  begun 
to  assume  the  importance  in  Latin  America  which  has  been 
advocated  by  innumerable  writers  and  statesmen. 

The  investment  of  American  capital  in  South  America  under 
the  direction  of  American  experts  [declared  Secretary  Root  in 
190G]  should  he  promoted,  not  merely  upon  simple  investment 
grounds,  but  as  a means  of  creating  and  enlarging  trade.  . . . 
I believe  that  there  is  a vast  number  of  enterprises  awaiting 
capital  in  the  more  advanced  countries  of  South  America,  capable 
of  yielding  great  prolits,  and  in  whicli  the  property  and  the 
profits  will  be  as  safe  as  in  the  United  States  or  Canada.  A 
good  many  such  enterprises  are  already  begun.  I have  found 
a graduate  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  a 
graduate  of  the  Columbia  School  of  Mines,  and  a graduate  of 
Colonel  Roosevelt’s  Rough  Riders  smelting  copper  close  under 
the  snow  line  of  the  Andes;  I have  ridden  in  an  American  car 
upon  an  American  electric  road,  built  by  a New  York  engineer, 
in  the  heart  of  the  coffee  region  of  Brazil ; and  I have  seen  the 
waters  of  that  river  along  which  Pizarro  established  his  line 


310  The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America 


of  communication  in  the  conquest  of  Peru,  harnessed  to  American 
machinery  to  make  light  and  power  for  the  city  of  Lima.  Every 
such  point  is  the  nucleus  of  American  trade — the  source  of  orders 
for  American  goods. 

Advice  of  this  kind  has  been  taken  to  heart  by  American 
investors.  Within  the  past  half  dozen  years,  such  consider- 
able loans  as  the  following,  in  addition  to  many  smaller 
loans,  have  been  secured  in  the  United  States  for  Latin 
American  governments,  states,  cities,  and  industrial  under- 
takings : 


Country 

Floated 

Amount 

Argentina : 

Central  Argentina  R.R 

1,  1917 

$15,000,000 

Chile : 

Gold  bonds  for  liquidation. . . . , 

Feb. 

1,  1921 

24,000,000 

Braden  Copper  Mines  Co 

1,  1916 

20,000,000 

35,000,000 

Chile  Copper  Co 

May, 

1917 

Peru : 

Cerro  de  Pasco  Copper  Co. ... , 

1921 

8,000,000 

Brazil : 

United  States  of  Brazil 

1,  1921 

25,000,000 

State  of  Sao  Paulo 

1,  1921 

10,000,000 

City  of  Rio  de  Janeiro 

May 

1,  1919 

10,000,000 

City  of  Sao  Paulo 

1,  1919 

8,500,000 

City  of  Rio  de  Janeiro 

1,  1921 

50,000,000 

Over  a quarter  of  a billion  dollars  of  American  money 
is  invested  in  Chilean  iron,  copper,  and  nitrate;  over  a 
hundred  million  dollars  are  distributed  among  Argentine 
government  and  industrial  loans;  heavy  investments  have 
recently  been  made  in  Venezuelan  and  Colombian  gold  mine 
and  oil  deposits;  down  to  1918,  one  billion  fifty-seven 
million  dollars  had  been  invested  in  Mexican  properties; 
and  about  one  billion  dollars  have  been  placed  in  Cuban 
enterprises.  The  total  investment  of  American  money  in 
Latin  America  aggregates  at  the  present  moment  some- 
thing like  three  billion  dollars — an  almost  incredible  im- 
provement on  the  conditions  obtaining  at  the  time  of 
Secretary  Root ’s  address  before  the  Trans-Mississippi  Com- 
mercial Congress. 

As  confidence  in  the  wealth  and  stability  of  Latin 
America  grows,  this  alliance  of  American  money  with  Latin 


The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  311 

American  resources  is  certain  to  reach  huge  proportions. 
American  money  cannot  stay  at  home  any  longer. 

FINANCIAL,  INVESTMENTS  ACCOMPANIED  BY  INVESTMENT  IN 
PERSONNEL 

As  investments  of  capital  seek  the  Latin  American  field, 
the  establishment  of  businesses  on  Latin  American  soil 
receives  a perceptible  acceleration : and  this  step  is  naturally 
accompanied  by  the  formation  of  groups  of  American  ad- 
ministrators and  employees  in  the  places  where  the  indus- 
tries are  located.  The  American  packing  plants  of  Argen- 
tina, Uruguay,  and  Brazil,  the  Colombian  Products  Com- 
pany of  Colombia,  the  Dupont  and  the  Grace  nitrate  oficinas 
in  Chile,  the  Guggenheim,  Morgan,  and  Bethlehem  Steel 
Company  properties  in  Chile  and  Bolivia,  the  great  asphalt 
works  in  the  State  of  Bermudez,  Venezuela,  operated  by  an 
American  company,  the  vast  American  sugar  estates  of 
Cuba  and  Santo  Domingo,  the  International  Railways  of 
Central  America,  the  United  Fruit  Company  and  the  other 
undertakings  sponsored  by  the  Keith  interests,  the  Far- 
quhar  projects  of  Brazil,  the  Grace  steamship  lines,  ware- 
houses, and  offices,  and  the  Doheny,  Tropical,  Standard 
and  other  oil  companies  of  Mexico  and  South  America,  em- 
ploy regiments,  if  not  veritable  armies,  of  American  execu- 
tives, experts,  salesmen,  and  office  help  in  their  Latin  Ameri- 
can and  United  States  establishments. 

The  network  of  enterprises  in  which  some  of  these  con- 
cerns are  engaged,  the  immense  amount  of  capital  involved, 
and  the  number  and  kinds  of  employees  required  may  be 
comprehended  from  a few  examples. 

The  Guggenheim  interests  control  the  Braden  Copper 
Company,  the  Chile  Exploration  Company,  the  Chile  Cop- 
per Company,  and  mining  and  smelting  works  in  Mexico, 
besides  the  extensive  steamship  and  other  transportation 
facilities  connected  with  these  mammoth  properties.  Their 
mining,  smelting,  and  electrification  problems  necessitate 
the  services  of  highly  trained  technical  experts,  the  social 
organization  of  their  establishments  involves  the  employ- 
ment of  sanitary  inspectors,  teachers,  directors  of  physical 


312  The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America 

education,  physicians,  and  nurses,  and  their  office  force  in- 
cludes large  numbers  of  accountants,  auditors,  and  all 
classes  of  clerical  assistants.  The  Chuquicamata  plant  is, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  health  service,  a Panama  Canal 
Zone  in  little ; its  sanitation  was  planned  by  a member  of 
the  staff  of  Colonel  Gorgas;  and  various  officials  devote 
their  time  to  looking  after  the  social  welfare  and  entertain- 
ment of  the  hundreds  of  American  and  European  employees 
and  the  thousands  of  Chilean  workmen. 

W.  R.  Grace  and  Company,  the  merchant  princes  par 
excellence,  do  an  enormous  purchasing  and  selling  business 
in  Latin  America  and  are  one  of  the  most  powerful  influ- 
ences on  the  West  Coast  of  South  America.  Some  of  their 
engineering  enterprises,  too,  such  as  the  construction  of  the 
Trans-Andean  Railroad  in  1910,  between  Buenos  Aires  and 
Santiago  through  the  Andes,  are  stupendous  in  their  com- 
plexity and  vast  in  their  demands  in  personnel  and  equip- 
ment. In  certain  articles,  such  as  coffee  and  nitrates,  they 
are  the  largest  individual  shippers  in  South  America.  Their 
aggregate  business  totaled  $250,000,000  in  1917,  and  re- 
quired the  services  of  25,000  employees,  a tonnage  of  140,- 
000  in  ships  constructed  by  the  company  itself,  and  a 
considerable  additional  tonnage  in  chartered  vessels. 

The  head  of  the  Brazil  Railway  Company  is  Mr.  Percival 
Farquhar  of  New  York,  of  whom  Mr.  J.  O.  P.  Bland 
observes : 

. . . the  ideas  which  radiated  from  him  in  such  profusion 
whether  financially  profitable  or  not,  have  left  their  mark  upon 
the  continent.  Farquhar’s  follies,  they  call  them  sometimes — for 
example,  that  Palace  in  the  wilderness,  the  hotel  and  gambling 
casino  at  Guaruja — but  the  impression  that  one  forms  of  his 
meteoric  career,  even  when  other  company  promoters  and  finan- 
ciers discuss  it,  suggests  something  of  the  conquistador  quality, 
something  of  the  superman  capacity  for  seeing  and  seizing  oppor- 
tunities which,  with  a little  luck,  makes  a Cecil  Rhodes  or  a 
Pierpont  Morgan. 

The  company  of  which  Mr.  Farquhar  is  the  guiding  spirit 
is  capitalized  at  900,000.000  francs  (normal  exchange), 
subscribed  in  France,  London,  and  Brussels,  controls  im- 
mense land  and  lumber  properties — the  area  owned  by  the 


The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  313 

cattle  company  alone,  according  to  Miss  L.  E.  Elliott  in 
her  unexcelled  Brazil  To-day  and  To-morrow,  running 
above  8,000,000  acres — maintains  a steamship  service  on 
the  Amazon  River,  operates  thousands  of  miles  of  railroads, 
and  is  interested  in  an  incredible  number  of  private  and 
public  undertakings.  Its  colonization  work  in  Southern 
Brazil  is  epic  in  scope  and  of  extreme  importance  to  the 
future  of  Brazil,  the  government  of  which  is  cooperating 
in  various  ways  to  its  complete  success,  especially  in  the 
direction  of  furnishing  educational  facilities  to  the  settlers, 
who  have  been  coming  in  the  main  from  Austria,  Poland, 
and  Italy.  Though  originating  in  French  capital,  the 
Brazil  Railway  Company  is  registered  under  the  laws  of 
the  State  of  Maine.  Its  various  activities  and  units  are 
commonly  spoken  of  in  Brazil  simply  as  “Farquhar,  ” and 
to  Mr.  Farquhar  appear  principally  due  the  energy  and 
imagination  which  are  peopling  illimitable  expanses  of 
arable  land  in  Brazil,  making  use  of  the  magnificent  forests 
of  the  interior  of  the  country,  and  promoting  the  improve- 
ment of  the  cattle  on  which  a great  deal  of  the  future 
prosperity  of  Brazil  will  depend. 

The  ambitious  young  American  is  periodically  stimulated 
to  increased  effort  by  anecdotes  and  biographical  details 
centering  about  the  lives  of  such  magnates  and  potentates 
as  Mr.  Rockefeller,  Carnegie,  Harriman,  the  Vanderbilts, 
the  Goulds,  AVoolworth,  the  AVeyerhaeusers,  Mr.  Theodore 
Vail,  Mr.  Frank  Vanderlip,  Frick,  Russell  Sage,  whose 
fortunes  have  been  built  on  the  opportunities  offered  at 
home. 

AMERICANS  WHO  OWE  THEIR  FORTUNES  TO  LATIN  AMERICA 

There  is  another  group  of  multimillionaires  or  men  who 
have  made  multimillionaires,  whose  names  may  well  be  called 
to  the  attention  of  aspiring  Americans — Henry  Meiggs, 
born  at  Catskill,  New  York,  who  constructed  the  railroad 
between  Valparaiso  and  Santiago,  erected  a marvelous 
monument  to  himself  in  the  shape  of  the  railroads  from 
Mollendo  to  Arequipa  and  from  Lima  to  Oroya,  the  latter 
the  highest  railway  in  the  world  and  one  of  the  most 


314  The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America 

romantic  projects  of  practical  engineering,  and  was  one 
of  the  notable  figures  of  Santiago,  Chile,  where  he  and  his 
Chilean  wife  welcomed  society  in  sumptuous  style;  William 
Wheelwright,  who  constructed  the  docks  at  Valparaiso, 
Chile,  built  the  railroad  from  Rosario  to  Cordoba  in  Argen- 
tina, and  organized  the  great  Pacific  Steam  Navigation 
Company;  the  late  Fred  Stark  Pearson  of  New  York,  re- 
garded by  many  as  the  world’s  foremost  engineer,  who  was 
president  of  A Luz  (Light)  Company,  capitalized  at  $100,- 
000,000  and  employing  some  10,000  men  and  women,  to 
which  Rio  de  Janeiro  looks  for  its  light,  power,  telephone, 
and  street-car  service;  Mr.  Minor  C.  Keith,  of  Brooklyn, 
New  York,  the  organizer  of  the  United  Fruit  Company, 
president  of  the  South  American  Electric  Smelting  Com- 
pany, of  the  Abangarez  Gold  Fields  of  Costa  Rica,  of  the 
Guatemala  Central  Railroad  Company,  and  of  the  Inter- 
national Railway  of  Central  America,  who  married  the 
daughter  of  Jose  Maria  Castro,  ex-president  of  Costa  Rica; 
Mr.  Edward  L.  Doheny,  whose  connection  with  Latin 
American  oil  syndicates  lias  made  him  the  latter-day  oil 
king;  James  Lick,  the  donor  of  the  Lick  Observatory,  who 
was  for  a long  time  a manufacturer  of  pianos  in  Buenos 
Aires  and  Valparaiso;  the  six  Guggenheim  brothers  and 
their  father,  Meyer  Guggenheim,  whose  unerring  talent 
for  the  discovery  of  valuable  mining  properties  has  un- 
covered veritable  mountains  of  the  precious  metals  in  South 
America  and  Mexico;  Mr.  Charles  Schwab,  the  genius  of 
the  Bethlehem  Steel  Corporation,  wTho  has  acquired  one 
of  the  most  valuable  deposits  of  the  best  iron  ore  in  the 
world  near  Coquimbo,  Chile,  manufactured  many  of  the 
huge  coast  defense  guns  of  Chile,  and  built  the  two  super- 
dreadnoughts, the  Moreno  and  the  Rivadavia,  for  Argentina 
at  a cost  of  $22,000,000  to  the  government  of  that  republic ; 
and  George  Peter  Ernest  Tornquist  of  Baltimore,  whose 
son,  Ernesto  Tornquist,  established  the  great  banking  house 
of  Ernesto  Tornquist  and  Company,  which  is  to  Argentina 
what  J.  P.  Morgan  and  Company  is  to  us,  and  whose  grand- 
son, Don  Carlos  A.  Tornquist,  an  ardent  Argentinian,  is 
perhaps  the  most  eminent  banker  of  South  America. 


The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  315 

These  men,  like  the  captains  of  local  American  industries, 
have  taken  advantage  of  outstanding  opportunities  with 
plenty  of  room  for  expansion.  They  have  had  the  gift  of 
vision  and  realized  that  Latin  America  is  a yet  unexploited 
territory.  They  have  benefited  themselves,  their  associates, 
the  Latin  American  republics,  and  American  business  in 
general.  They  recall  the  age  of  the  conquistador es,  and 
their  amazing  deeds  are  worthy  of  that  type  of  chronicle 
of  success  to  which  young  America  is  referred  for  inspira- 
tion and  for  rules  of  conduct.  The  number  of  Americans 
who  owe  their  power  and  place  to  Latin  America  is  already 
large:  and  many  of  these  men  started  from  exceedingly 
small  beginnings.  That  the  number  will  increase  immeas- 
urably is  scarcely  to  be  doubted,  for  the  surface  of  Latin 
American  riches  has  but  been  scratched. 

RECENT  SUCCESSES  OF  LARGE  AMERICAN  INDUSTRIAL  CONCERNS 
IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

In  the  present  state  of  world  finances,  American  money 
and  business  acumen  should  have  no  difficulty  in  carrying 
through  the  multiple  immense  projects  in  engineering,  elec- 
trification, railroad  construction,  the  building  of  docks,  the 
establishment  of  public  utilities,  factories,  and  industrial 
colonies,  and  the  development  of  agricultural  and  mining 
resources  of  which  Latin  American  stands  to-day  in  greater 
need  than  ever.  Daily  items  from  Latin  America  prove 
how  effectively  American  interests  are  taking  advantage 
of  their  unique  opportunities  and  how  surely  commerce 
is  following  in  the  wake  of  their  enterprise. 

The  Westinghouse  Company  and  allied  interests  have 
just  been  awarded  the  contract  for  the  electrification  of  the 
Chilean  State  Railroad  between  Valparaiso  and  Santiago 
and  of  the  Los  Andes  branch  of  the  trans-continental  line 
to  Buenos  Aires.  The  amount  involved  is  more  than  $10,- 
000,000,  and  the  contract  is  the  largest  for  railway  elec- 
trification ever  placed  with  an  American  firm  for  work 
outside  the  United  States.  The  equipment  required,  which 
includes  locomotives  and  everything  necessary  to  complete 
electrification,  will  naturally  be  obtained  from  the  United 


316  The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America 

States.  The  Westinghouse  Company  secured  the  contract 
in  the  face  of  keen  competition  from  Germany  and  other 
European  countries.  The  order,  while  of  considerable  size, 
is  but  a hint  of  later  possibilities,  since  Chile  is  bent  on 
electrifying  all  its  railroads,  on  account  of  the  abundance 
of  water  power  and  the  high  price  of  fuel.  The  recent 
purchase  of  an  immense  oil  field  of  5,320,000  acres  in  Bolivia 
by  Mr.  Spruille  Braden  and  his  associates  was  likewise 
brought  to  a successful  conclusion  in  the  teeth  of  sharp 
competition  from  Germany  and  England,  and  implies  heavy 
requirements  in  American  equipment  and  personnel.  Mr. 
Braden  regards  this  new  petroleum  area  in  southeastern 
Bolivia  as  one  of  the  most  promising  oil  fields  in  the  world 
and  reports  that  it  contains  one  of  the  highest  grades  of 
oil  ever  found. 

These  are  but  two  of  the  many  important  contracts  and 
concessions  won  by  United  States  firms  and  individuals 
during  the  current  year.  A few  others  which  may  be  men- 
tioned are  the  contract  between  the  Bolivian  Government 
and  an  American  company  for  the  completion  of  the  rail- 
road between  Atocha,  Bolivia,  and  La  Quiaca,  Argentina, 
which  forms  part  of  the  trunk  line  between  Buenos  Aires 
and  La  Paz,  at  a cost  of  $8,500,000 ; the  concession  by  the 
Government  of  Costa  Rica  to  American  interests  for  the 
construction  and  operation  of  a railway  “from  the  Bay 
of  Culebra  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  the  Nicoya  Peninsula 
past  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Nicoya  to  a junction  with  the 
Pacific  Railway  at  or  near  the  port  of  Puntarenas”;  the 
concession  by  the  Peruvian  Government  to  Mr.  M.  A. 
Matthews  for  the  construction  of  a port  in  the  Bay  of 
Matarani,  which  will  include  the  building  of  a railroad  to 
Mollendo,  waterworks,  and  the  erection  of  a customs-house 
and  other  edifices;  the  concession  by  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment of  oil  rights  in  Lower  California  to  the  Marland  Oil 
Company,  which  expects  to  invest  several  million  dollars 
in  the  enterprise ; and  the  granting  of  options  to  the  Ameri- 
can Smelting  and  Refining  Company,  controlled  by  the 
Guggenheim  interests,  on  several  silver  and  copper  proper- 
ties in  Peru,  which  will  undoubtedly  lead  to  the  opening 


The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  317 

up  of  extensive  anthracite  coal  regions  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood. 

All  such  undertakings  mean  American  equipment,  office 
supplies,  automobiles  and  motor  trucks,  and  certain  kinds 
of  food  and  clothing.  They  mean,  also,  something  more 
vital  which  has  been  proved  time  and  again : the  acquisition 
by  Latin  Americans  of  a taste  and  a desire  for  American 
products.  The  American  era  in  railroad  building  in  Latin 
America,  which  has  followed  a British  and  German  era,  has 
resulted  lately  in  the  purchase  by  Costa  Rica  of  several 
locomotives  and  30  freight  cars,  by  Mexico  of  90  locomotives 
with  a prospective  additional  order  of  20  more,  by  the 
Paulista  Railway  Company  of  a number  of  freight  and 
passenger  locomotives,  which,  as  the  South  American  states, 
“marks  a milestone  in  the  electrification  of  one  of  the  most 
important  lines  in  all  South  America.”  Two  American 
companies  have,  in  the  last  few  months  of  1921,  arranged 
for  a five-year  credit  of  $10,000,000  with  the  Argentine 
State  Railways,  and  are  to  deliver  75  locomotives  valued  at 
$3,500,000,  2000  freight  cars  valued  at  $5,000,000,  and 
spare  parts  and  appliances  to  the  extent  of  $1,500,000. 

Fully  as  admirable,  and  perhaps  a more  remarkable, 
example  of  the  wisdom  of  inculcating  a habit  for  American 
goods  may  be  found  in  the  work  of  such  firms  as  the  Singer 
Sewing  Machine  Company,  the  National  Cash  Register 
Company,  the  United  Shoe  Machinery  Company,  some  of 
our  shoe  manufacturers,  and  several  of  our  manufacturers 
of  fountain-pens,  typewriters,  printing  machinery,  and 
phonographs.  These  companies,  by  means  of  their  highly 
efficient  organization  and  their  persevering  advertising, 
have  made  their  wares  household  names  in  the  cities,  towns, 
and,  in  the  case  of  several,  in  even  the  remotest  districts 
of  all  Latin  America:  and  it  is  improbable  that  they  need 
to  worry  greatly  about  foreign  rivalry. 

It  may  be  true,  as  has  often  been  stated,  that  most  of 
these  concerns  hold  the  field  because  they  exercise  a 
monopoly  resting  on  patents  or  exclusive  features : but,  in 
reality,  in  practically  no  instance  do  they  deal  in  such 
peculiar  products  as  to  preclude  imitation,  and  in  no  in- 


318  The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America 

stance  are  they  the  only  manufacturers  in  the  world  of  the 
articles  which  they  have  to  offer  to  their  Latin  American 
customers. 

Good  and  sufficient  practical  business  reasons  explain  the 
declaration  of  the  manager  of  La  Prensa  of  Buenos  Aires 
to  Mr.  Nevin  0.  Winter: 

“All  of  our  printing  machinery  is  of  North  American  make, 
as  is  almost  everything  in  the  establishment,  except  the  type.  . . . 
We  have  found  those  goods  to  be  the  best.  Furthermore,  our 
presses,  as  you  will  see,  are  the  North  American  make;  and  not 
from  the  branch  factory  in  England.”  And  so  [continues  Mr. 
Winter]  I found  as  we  went  through  these  offices,  being  taken 
from  one  floor  to  another  on  an  American  elevator,  that  the 
“copy”  was  being  written  up  on  typewriters,  set  up  on  linotype 
machines,  and  printed  upon  presses,  all  of  United  States  manu- 
facture; the  cheeks  to  the  reporters  were  signed  by  fountain-pens 
and  the  cash  received  over  the  counters  was  rung  up  on  cash 
registers  from  the  same  land. 

Good  and  sufficient  reasons,  too,  based  on  excellence  of 
quality  and  on  perfect  organization,  and  not  on  monopolistic 
domination,  explain  the  universal  use  of  American  farm 
machinery  and  of  some  kinds  of  industrial  machinery  in 
Latin  America. 

OUTSTANDING  OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  MEN  WITH  SOME  CAPITAL 

“Big  business”  of  the  kind  described  above  has  little 
difficulty  in  making  its  way  in  Latin  America.  It  is  gener- 
ally influential  enough  to  command  a hearing  from  the 
highest  governmental  officials,  is  able  to  investigate  the 
field  carefully,  can  engage  the  services  of  the  best  experts, 
and  has  the  resources  for  a long  campaign  of  education 
and  advertising,  whenever  these  factors  must  be  brought 
into  play.  But  several  other  species  of  business  still  largely 
undeveloped  by  LTnited  States  entrepreneurs  offer  excellent 
prospects  and  should  soon  attract  American  capital. 

It  is  not  long  since  the  interests  represented  by  Mr.  John 
McE.  Bowman,  which  operate  the  Commodore,  Belmont, 
Manhattan,  and  other  hotels  in  New  York  and  the  Hotel 
Belleview  at  Belleair,  Florida,  projected  their  activities  into 
Latin  America  by  acquiring  important  hotel  property  in 


The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  319 


Cuba.  Whether  or  not  this  company  goes  further  toward 
erecting  a chain  of  American  hotels  in  Latin  America,  it 
is  certain  that  splendid  opportunities  exist  already  in  the 
metropolitan  cities  and  may  be  foreseen  in  some  of  the 
smaller  cities,  especially  in  those  along  the  line  of  the 
growing  tourist  travel  and  at  the  fashionable  summer  re- 
sorts. If  British  hotel  promotors  can  put  up  splendid 
hotels  in  Buenos  Aires  comparable  with  the  most  sumptuous 
caravansaries  in  the  United  States,  why  cannot  Americans 
do  likewise?  Buenos  Aires  and  some  of  the  smaller,  but 
much  frequented,  cities  of  Argentina,  Santiago,  Montevideo, 
Sao  Paulo,  and,  above  all,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  are  thriving  cities 
and  not  oversupplied  with  modern  hotel  accommodations. 
Mar  del  Plata,  Vina  del  Mar,  and  Los  Pocitos,  in  Argentina, 
Chile,  and  Uruguay,  respectively,  are  the  Bar  Harbor  or 
Newport  of  their  countries,  and  are  so  located  that  they 
serve  highly  populous  urban  centers.  If  one  may  judge 
from  the  past,  the  demand  for  hotels  there  cannot  help 
increasing.  Mr.  Winter,  who  has  already  been  quoted  in 
this  chapter,  gives  a graphic  description  of  the  congestion 
at  Mar  del  Plata  at  the  time  of  his  visit. 

With  all  the  increase  in  hotel  accommodation  that  has  been 
provided  in  recent  years,  the  hotels  were  full  for  weeks  the  past 
season,  and  it  was  almost  impossible  to  secure  accommodation 
unless  one  had  friends,  or  arranged  for  it  weeks  ahead.  The 
Hotel  Bristol  is  the  largest  hotel  in  South  America.  There  is  a 
main  building,  which  contains  a spacious  dining  and  ball  room, 
and  two  annexes,  each  of  which  is  as  large  as  the  average  city 
block.  The  prices  correspond  with  the  magnificence  of  the  fur- 
nishings. It  is  a night’s  run  from  Buenos  Aires,  and  a day 
train  is  run  on  Saturdays  and  Tuesdays,  which  makes  the  trip 
in  about  seven  hours.  The  night  that  I went  there  were  five 
trains,  each  carrying  fourteen  sleepers,  and  all  of  them  were  full. 
The  traffic  has  been  just  as  great  for  almost  a month.  . . . Arrived 
at  Mar  del  Plata,  there  was  a close  line  of  carriages  almost  a 
mile  long  waiting  for  “fares.”  As  soon  as  one  carriage  was 
filled  another  moved  up  and  took  its  place. 

Good  hotels  are,  in  fact,  needed  all  over  Latin  America. 
They  should  prove  a satisfactory  investment  not  only  in 
the  large  cities  and  at  the  summer-resorts,  but  also  in  the 


320  The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America 

lake  district  of  Chile  and,  possibly,  in  some  of  the  historic 
regions  of  Peru. 

Other  enterprises  which  require  capital  and  should  suc- 
ceed in  many  of  the  Latin  American  republics  are  depart- 
ment stores,  “chain”  stores  for  the  sale  of  drugs  and 
chemicals,  stores  dealing  in  office  supplies  and  filing  devices, 
photographic  supply  shops,  “five  and  ten  cent”  stores, 
and  various  kinds  of  manufacturing  businesses,  such  as  the 
manufacture  of  paints  and  varnishes  and  of  palm  oil  for 
soap  or  margarine  purposes.  Concerning  the  latter,  the 
weekly  Commerce  Report  of  the  United  States  Department 
of  Commerce  says,  in  its  issue  of  November  28,  1921 : 

Outside  capital  is  needed  to  develop  the  industry,  and  there 
is  apparently  a good  opportunity  for  an  American  company  to 
install  a factory  and  control  the  trade  [in  Paraguay].  The  Gov- 
ernment is  favorably  inclined  toward  capital,  and  at  the  present 
time  labor  is  plentiful  and  cheap. 

To  be  sure,  nearly  every  form  of  business  and  industry 
offers  opportunities  to  the  right  man  at  the  right  time, 
and  there  is  no  special  reason  for  ruling  out  some  branches 
and  emphasizing  others.  If  Americans  can  give  better 
prices,  better  quality,  or  better  service,  or  all  three  com- 
bined, than  native  shopkeepers,  they  stand  excellent  chances 
of  building  up  their  trade.  On  the  other  hand,  Latin 
American  merchants  are  extremely  capable,  and  have  the 
advantage  of  familiarity  with  the  market  and  with  the 
people,  and  a certain  social  contact:  and  because  of  these 
facts,  Americans  are  generally  warned  against  entering  into 
competition  in  these  branches  unless  heavily  supplied  with 
capital.  The  advice  is,  in  general,  good,  though  it  need 
not  be  taken  too  literally. 

EUROPEAN  DEPARTMENT  STORES  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

Large  and  small  businesses  have  always  existed  in  Latin 
America : yet  Harrods  of  London  and  several  of  the  French 
houses,  including  the  Au  Bon  Marche,  Au  Printemps,  Aux 
Galeries  Lafayette,  have  already  established  flourishing  de- 
partment stores  in  South  America,  and  immigrants  from 
Italy,  Germany,  France,  and  England  have  built  up 


The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  321 


businesses  of  importance.  If  the  dread  of  competing  with 
native  or  foreign  firms  had  seemed  an  insuperable  obstacle 
to  American  manufacturers  and  merchants,  they  would 
never  have  made  any  appreciable  headway,  and  the  700 
or  800  new  export  commission  houses  which,  acording  to 
Mr.  Ernest  B.  Filsinger  in  his  Trading  with  Latin  America, 
have  entered  the  market  since  1914,  would  have  refrained 
from  acting  at  the  psychological  moment. 

The  world  has  not  yet  recuperated  from  the  European 
War,  and  the  door  of  opportunity  in  Latin  America  is  still 
open.  Failures  and  disappointments  there  undoubtedly  are 
in  the  Latin  American  trade  and  industries,  as  elsewhere: 
but  the  thousands  of  considerable  failures  and  the  tens  of 
thousands  of  small  failures  every  year  in  the  United  States 
do  not  prevent  the  initiation  and  operation  of  new  commer- 
cial and  industrial  enterprises. 

The  many  difficulties  connected  with  Latin  American 
trade  are  not  peculiar  to  that  region  alone.  They  are  in- 
cident to  all  foreign  trading,  as  those  most  successful  foreign 
traders,  the  British  and  the  Germans,  well  know.  The 
antidote  to  them  is  to  be  found  only  in  the  strict  training 
in  geography,  history,  language,  and  commercial  practice, 
such  as  has  been  given  in  Germany,  and  in  a certain  tactful- 
ness and  geniality,  often  innate,  but  often,  also,  acquired 
through  contact  and  experience.  In  the  era  of  foreign  trad- 
ing which  looms  before  us,  nothing  can  be  more  vital  to 
our  success  than  persistent  imitation  of  the  German  thor- 
oughness. 

IMMIGRANTS  WHO  BUILT  UP  FORTUNES  IN  LATIN  AMERICA 

If  the  man  without  training,  experience,  or  natural 
adaptability  now  stands  little  chance  in  the  United  States, 
it  is  logical  to  suppose  that  he  will  not  stand  a much  greater 
chance  in  a strange  environment.  Nevertheless,  it  is  not 
precisely  true  to  say  that  the  man  who  does  not  get  ahead 
in  the  United  States  will  necessarily  fail  in  Latin  America. 
Innumerable  examples  can  be  given  of  men  who,  either 
because  of  the  restricted  sphere  in  which  thy  moved  in  their 
own  country  or  because  of  the  lack  of  the  needed  stimula- 


322  The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America 


tion  to  their  latent  capabilities,  have  vegetated  at  home, 
but  made  a dazzling  success  in  Latin  America. 

Pedro  Luro,  a Spanish  Basque  immigrant  into  Argentina, 
reached  Buenos  Aires,  practically  penniless.  Like  most 
of  his  countrymen,  he  was  hard-working  and  thrifty.  Com- 
prehending that  the  best  opportunities  in  Argentina  were 
offered  by  agriculture  and  ranching,  he  secured  from  the 
Government  one  hundred  square  leagues  of  land,  or  625,000 
acres,  at  three  and  one-half  cents  per  acre,  with  excellent 
terms  for  payment,  and  brought  over  fifty  Basque  families 
to  colonize  the  tract.  He  became  immensely  wealthy,  be- 
sides making  millionaires  of  some  of  his  associates.  On 
his  death,  he  left  an  estate  of  a million  acres,  stocked  with 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  sheep  and  cattle  and  richly  pro- 
ductive in  grains. 

Francisco  Schmidt,  a poor  German  immigrant,  came  to 
Brazil,  intent  on  improving  his  financial  condition.  Coffee 
naturally  appealed  to  him  as  the  road  to  fortune  in  Brazil. 
Beginning  on  a small  scale,  he  bought  up  coffee  fazendas 
and  extended  his  holdings  in  accordance  with  the  limited 
means  at  his  disposal.  To-day,  Francisco  Schmidt  is  the 
largest  individual  owner  of  coffee  plantations  in  the  world. 
There  are  thirteen  million  coffee-trees  on  his  lands,  which 
produce  from  200,000  to  250,000  sacks  of  the  fragrant  berry 
each  year. 

M.  Hilleret,  of  whom  M.  Clemenceau  speaks  several  times, 
landed  in  Argentina  without  funds  and  went  to  work  as 
a laborer  on  the  l’aifways.  Gifted  with  vision,  he  watched 
the  growing  importance  of  the  sugar  industry  in  Tucuman, 
and  determined  to  acquire  a share  in  it.  To  interest  others 
in  his  plans  was  no  easier  than  it  is  to-day  to  obtain  capital 
for  an  undertaking  proposed  by  a man  outside  the  charmed 
circle  of  professional  finance.  Cattle  and  cereals  seem  to 
constitute  the  natural  wealth  of  Argentina,  and  sugar-cane 
would  seem  to  present  better  prospects  of  sudden  wealth 
further  north,  in  the  direction  of  the  equatorial  belt.  But 
M.  Hilleret  foresaw  the  effect  of  protection  on  home-grown 
sugar  and  persisted  in  his  project  for  putting  up  a sugar 
factory,  which  he  finally  succeeded  in  erecting  at  Santa 


The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  323 


Ana.  The  fortune  which  he  left  at  his  death  amounted  to 
100,000,000  francs,  or  about  $20,000,000. 

In  1872  an  American  citizen  by  the  name  of  Piper  es- 
tablished the  town  of  Gibbon  in  the  Purus  region  of  Bolivia, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Araca  River.  At  the  beginning  of 
1878,  the  number  of  inhabitants  in  this  fertile  region,  ac- 
cording to  Sehor  Beltran  y Rozpide,  was  8,000  and  one  of 
the  important  articles  of  exportation  was  rubber,  the  annual 
sale  of  which  amounted  to  $2,000,000.  Ten  years  later,  the 
population  of  the  district  had  increased  to  50,000  souls, 
rubber  was  exported  to  the  value  of  about  $4,500,000,  and 
other  crops  had  been  developed  to  a point  of  importance. 
It  is  to  Piper,  the  American,  that  the  foundation  of  the 
first  agricultural  centers  along  the  Purus  River  is  due. 

Not  altogether  uncommon  in  Latin  America  is  the  follow- 
ing picture  of  hard-won  economic  independence  gained  by 
simple,  thrifty  folk  from  Europe,  often  unlettered  and 
unskilled,  whose  only  aids  have  been  their  hands  and  the 
ambition  to  obtain  in  the  New  World  what  would  forever 
have  been  kept  from  them  in  the  Old  World — land  and  h 
competency : 

Our  two  nearest  estanciero  neighbors  arc  a native  and  a Basque; 
small  estancias  both,  of  about  four  thousand  acres.  Of  good 
sturdy  peasant  stock  is  the  Basque,  hard  bitten  and  thrifty;  he 
began  life,  they  say,  as  a chacrero  in  a small  way,  and  is  now 
believed  to  be  worth  half  a million  dollars.  A brother  and  his 
old  mother  share  his  untidy,  unpretentious  house;  they  keep  no 
indoor  servants  (mother  does  the  washing),  mind  their  own  busi- 
ness, and  have  evidently  no  desire  to  cut  a figure  in  any  kind 
of  society. 

Instances  of  this  sort  are  probably  exceptional  in  Latin 
America,  as  they  are  everywhere  in  the  world  to-day;  but 
they  are  a legitimate  offset  to  the  all  too  prevalent  state- 
ments made  to  the  effect  that  there  is  nothing  in  store  for 
the  man  who  goes  to  Latin  America  with  but  a few  hundred 
dollars,  a pair  of  strong  arms,  and  the  determination  to 
make  his  way.  They  are  proof,  too,  that  the  best  oppor- 
tunities are  in  the  land  and  in  the  produce  of  the  land. 


324  The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America 


SPLENDID  AGRICULTURAL  OPPORTUNITIES  FOR  THE  * ‘ AVERAGE 

man” 

It  is  still  true  that  fertile  land  is  cheaper  in  Latin 
America  than  in  other  portions  of  the  Western  Hemisphere, 
that  crops  are  more  abundant,  that  the  climate  in  many 
regions  is  more  benignant  than  in  the  northern  continent 
outside  of  the  southern  and  southwestern  sections  and  that 
many  districts  in  the  tropical  and  subtropical  zones,  because 
of  their  elevation,  are  really  temperate  both  as  to  tempera- 
ture and  as  to  the  articles  which  may  be  cultivated,  and 
that  labor  is  in  general  cheaper  and  more  plentiful. 

The  great  drawback  for  the  present  is  insufficient  trans- 
portation. Railroads,  nevertheless,  are  multiplying,  the 
“good  roads”  movement  has  invaded  Latin  America,  and 
new  ports  are  being  constructed. 

Those  who  take  advantage  of  the  present  favorable 
conditions  in  land  in  Latin  America  will  probably  have 
cause  to  congratulate  themselves  on  their  foresight.  Fifty 
years  from  now  the  notion  of  Latin  America  as  an  area 
prodigal  in  land  opportunities  will  have  begun  to  vanish. 

Heretofore,  all  the  Latin  American  propaganda  in  the 
United  States  has  been  devoted  to  commercial  opportuni- 
ties. This  was  appropriate  in  view  of  the  extraordinary 
conditions  brought  on  by  the  European  War,  and  our 
merchants  have  risen  to  the  heights  expected  of  them. 
But,  as  the  Latin  American  countries  become  more  self- 
sustaining  industrially,  many  of  the  industrial  and  com- 
mercial branches  in  which  we  predominate  will  lose  some 
of  their  importance,  and  foreign  competition  will  neces- 
sarily cut  into  the  volume  of  our  trade.  The  contingency 
is  not  immediate,  perhaps:  but  the  measures  which  must 
be  taken  in  order  to  forestall  a remote  contingency  often 
have  to  be  immediate.  The  solution  for  many  of  our  future 
commercial,  social,  and  political  relations  with  Latin 
America  lies  in  an  extension  of  our  own  nationality  into 
the  Latin  American  countries  through  the  medium  of 
immigration. 

It  is  quite  commonly  agreed  that,  if  Mexico  enjoyed  a 


The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  325 

government  capable  of  inspiring  absolute  confidence  and 
propitious  to  foreign  colonization,  immigration  from  the 
United  States  would  assume  the  aspect  of  a rapid  torrent, 
so  widespread  is  the  conviction  that  the  agricultural  and 
cattle-raising  opportunities  in  Mexico  are  far  superior  to 
those  now  obtainable  in  most  of  our  States.  Whatever 
the  ideas  of  men  like  Mr.  Vilhjalmur  Stefansson,  the 
celebrated  explorer,  may  be  with  regard  to  the  inevitable 
trend  of  population  and  settlement  northward,  in  the 
United  States  the  trend  appears  to  be  westward  and  south- 
ward. The  simple  reason  is  that  we  are  growing  land- 
hungry  and  are  likely  to  meet  the  least  resistance  in  those 
directions.  As  a much  underpopulated  country  with  a 
great  variety  of  climates  and  natural  resources,  Mexico, 
lying  at  our  borders,  is  sure  to  exert  a great  attractive 
power  upon  us.  Practically  speaking,  it  offers  unlimited 
opportunities  in  the  growing  of  cereals,  sugar,  coffee, 
tobacco,  fruits,  henequen  fiber,  cotton,  the  raising  of  cat- 
tle, and  the  exploitation  of  minerals  and  oil. 

There  is  still  room  for  expansion  in  the  West  Indies: 
and  those  who  believe  in  Florida  as  a site  for  permanent 
settlement  because  of  its  sunny  climate  would  find  no  diffi- 
culty in  getting  along  in  the  neighboring  emerald  islands 
of  Cuba,  the  Isle  of  Pines,  Santo  Domingo,  or  Porto  Rico. 
The  Isle  of  Pines  is  a contented  American  settlement 
drawing  a competency  from  its  citrus  fruits  and  its  truck 
gardening : and  Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  and  to  a certain  extent, 
Santo  Domingo  are  the  home  of  many  Americans  who, 
from  a small  investment,  have  developed  orange,  grape- 
fruit, pineapple,  tobacco,  and  coffee  plantations  into  a 
paying  business  under  conditions  that  impose  no  greater 
hardships  in  the  way  of  personal  labor  required,  capital 
invested,  or  length  of  time  demanded  before  tangible 
returns  may  be  expected  than  similar  enterprises  started 
in  Florida  or  California. 

The  advice  given  and  the  suggestions  made  by  the 
Department  of  Agriculture,  Commerce,  and  Labor  of  Cuba 
indicate  the  pitfalls  and  the  merits  of  farming  in  the  sub- 


326  The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America 

tropics  and  apply,  in  general,  to  all  the  West  Indies  and 
Central  America. 

Free  government  lands  are  rare  or  entirely  non-existent : 
but  “many  excellent  mountain  lands  are  held  in  large 
tracts  of  from  10,000  to  50,000  acres  by  non-resident 
owners,”  “can  be  purchased  at  prices  varying  from  $5.00 
to  $10.00  per  acre,  and  if  located  within  a reasonable  dis- 
tance of  the  sea  coast,  or  good  harbors,  are  really  worth 
many  times  that  amount,”  and  “are  usually  well  watered 
and  covered  Avith  soil  that  is  adapted  to  the  groAving  of 
coffee,  cacao,  citrus  fruits,  mangos,  grapes,  and  in  fact, 
any  fruit  known  to  the  tropical  Avorld.  They  Avill  also 
support  most  of  our  forage  crops  and  hence  can  be  used 
adArantageously  as  small  stock  farms  and  goat  ranches.” 
Much  of  the  sandy  land  hitherto  pronounced  Avorthless 
has  been  made  to  yield  a profit  of  from  $100  to  $200  an 
acre  through  the  miracle  of  the  Burbank  spineless  cactus. 

Though  many  of  the  elements  of  expense  in  farming 
in  the  United  States,  such  as  the  cost  of  fuel,  the  need  of 
heavy  clothing,  the  upkeep  of  expensively  constructed 
farm  buildings  capable  of  Avithstanding  the  cold  and  the 
storms  of  Avinter,  are  eliminated  in  Cuba  and  the  other 
subtropical  countries,  farming  on  a small  scale  requires 
the  same  attention  to  detail  and  the  same  business  man- 
agement Avhich  are  observable  in  modern  farming  in  the 
United  States. 

Under  good  business  management,  according  to  the 
Cuban  bureau  referred  to,  garden  truck  Avill  yield  from 
$100  to  $400  per  acre,  oranges,  according  to  maturity, 
from  $50  to  $500  per  acre,  and  sugar  cane  up  to  $800 
per  acre.  Cuba,  too,  is  faATored  by  several  special  circum- 
stances not  found  in  the  subtropical  countries  as  a Avhole. 
Havana  is  at  no  great  distance  from  any  part  of  the 
island,  is  the  busiest  port  on  the  Western  Hemisphere 
except  New  York,  and  schedules  the  sailing  of  32  steam- 
ships a week  to  the  United  States.  In  addition,  the  island 
is  Avell  supplied  with  transportation  facilities,  haAdng  2600 
miles  of  railroads,  250  miles  of  electric  railways,  and  1246 
miles  of  magnificent  automobile  higlrways.  The  average 


The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  327 


January  temperature  is  70.3  degrees  Fahrenheit,  and  the 
average  July  temperature  82.4  degrees.  In  health  sta- 
tistics, Cuba  ranks  first  among  all  the  countries  of  the 
world,  showing  but  12.54  deaths  per  thousand. 

Something  of  a like  nature  may  be  said  for  most  of 
the  West  Indies  and  for  certain  sections  of  Central 
America. 

The  larger  agricultural  projects  and  those  more  re- 
sembling agricultural  undertakings  in  the  United  States 
are,  of  course,  to  be  found  in  South  America.  Until  the 
present,  citizens  of  the  United  States  have  occupied  them- 
selves only  slightly  with  the  possibilities  there.  Most  of 
the  settlement  has  been  effected  by  the  millions  of  Spanish, 
Italian,  and  German  immigrants.  The  great  deterrent  to 
Americans,  evidently,  has  lain  in  the  lack  of  confidence 
of  United  States  citizens  in  the  stability  of  the  South 
American  governments,  in  their  reluctance  to  “rough  it,” 
and  in  their  assumption  that  titles  in  Latin  America  are 
not  adequately  protected.  Such  considerations,  however, 
have  not  hindered  Europeans  from  taking  up  the  land, 
and  cases  of  injustice  or  interference  on  the  part  of  Latin 
American  governments  or  individuals  have  been  rare. 

COLONIZATION  CONDITIONS 

It  may  now  be  said  confidently  that  with  few  exceptions 
the  South  American  republics  are  as  desirable  for  coloniza- 
tion purposes  as  any  countries  in  the  world.  The  colony 
reported  to  have  been  started  recently  by  Mr.  C.  Dunbar 
Smith  of  Nebraska  City,  Nebraska,  on  an  extensive  grant 
in  Bolivia  and  the  numerous  applications  received  by  the 
Argentine  Government  this  year  from  United  States 
citizens  for  allotments  in  the  tract  of  16,000,000  acres 
opened  up  in  different  sections  of  the  republic  for  the 
establishment  of  colonies  demonstrate  that  the  American 
attitude  toward  agricultural  settlement  in  South  America 
is  changing — though  all  too  slowly. 

The  terms  upon  which  land  may  be  secured  in  South 
America  are  nearly  uniform  in  all  the  republics,  from 
Venezuela  to  Argentina.  A few  of  the  stipulations  made 


328  The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America 


by  the  various  governments  may  be  illustrated  by  ex- 
amples taken  from  the  colonization  and  immigration  laws 
of  Venezuela,  Argentina,  Bolivia,  and  Brazil. 

In  Venezuela  a colonization  company  or  individual 
may  secure  a section  of  land  (20  kilometers,  or  about 
12  miles,  square)  under  certain  conditions,  among  which 
the  following  are  the  more  important : that  it  shall  place  at 
least  100  agricultural  families  on  its  land  within  two  years ; 
that  it  shall  give  each  family  a lot  of  25  hectares  (hectare  = 
2.471  acres)  plus  10  hectares  for  each  child  above  ten  years 
of  age ; that  it  shall  provide  free  lodging  for  a year  to  each 
family ; that  it  shall  advance  implements,  cattle,  seeds,  etc., 
to  an  amount  not  exceeding  1000  bolivar es  ( bolivar  — about 
20  cents),  exact  not  more  than  10%  simple  interest  on  the 
advance  made,  and  require  repayment  only  in  5 annual 
installments  beginning  with  the  end  of  the  second  year; 
and  that  it  shall  deposit  25,000  bolivares  or  security  for 
that  sum  as  a guarantee  that  the  contract  with  the  govern- 
ment will  be  carried  out.  The  cost  of  transportation  of  the 
immigrants  from  the  port  of  embarkation  will  be  borne 
by  the  Venezuelan  Government.  Immigrants  enjoy  all  the 
rights  appertaining  to  strangers,  and,  if  they  become 
naturalized  citizens,  are  exempted  from  military  service 
during  their  lifetime  except  in  the  case  of  an  international 
war.  In  that  case,  they  will  not  be  obliged  to  bear  arms 
against  their  original  country. 

The  National  Land  Law  (No.  4167)  of  Argentina  stipu- 
lates the  following: 

Article  2.  . . . The  area  of  each  agricultural  lot  shall  not 
exceed  one  hundred  hectares  and  that  of  each  pastoral  lot  shall 
not  exceed  two  thousand  five  hundred  hectares,  and  not  more  than 
two  agricultural  lots  or  one  pastoral  lot  shall  be  granted  to  one 
person  or  corporation. 

The  remaining  lands  shall  be  let  on  lease  or  disposed  of  by 
public  sale,  such  sales  not  to  exceed  in  the  aggregate  one  thousand 
kilometric  square  leagues  in  each  year  and  to  be  effected  upon 
such  terms  as  to  time  for  payment  and  other  conditions  as  the 
Executive  Power  may  determine,  but  the  sale  price  shall  not  be 
under  forty  cents  gold  or  one  dollar  national  currency  per  hectare 
as  a minimum,  payable  within  five  years  as  a maximum,  with 
interest  at  the  rate  of  six  per  cent  per  annum.  . . . 


SHRINE  OF  OUR  LADY  OF  CAPACABANA,  ON  BOLIVIAN  SHORE  OF 
LAKE  TITICACA. 


TOWN  AND  MOUNTAIN  OF  POTOSI,  BOLIVIA. 


The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  329 

Article  3.  . . . The  Executive  Power  is  hereby  authorized  to 
deliver  the  definitive  title  to  purchasers  who  shall  have  paid  in 
cash  one-sixth  of  the  purchase  price  and  shall  have  complied  with 
the  conditions  laid  down  for  settling  and  stocking,  the  property 
being  charged  on  mortgage  for  the  amount  of  the  bill  to  be  signed 
for  the  instalments  due.  . . . 

Lessees  and  acquirers  are  obliged  to  stock  their  holdings 
and  to  erect  building  upon  them  to  the  value  of  at  least 
five  hundred  dollars  national  currency  (one  dollar  national 
currency  = $.42,  normal  exchange)  per  kilometric  league. 
The  minimum  price  for  each  town  lot  is  to  be  ten  dollars 
currency  and  that  of  agricultural  lots  ( chacras ) or  garden 
lots  ( quintas ) two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  hectare,  pay- 
able in  six  annual  instalments.  Acquirers  of  town  lots 
must  fence  them  in  and  build  a dwelling  on  them  within 
a year : and  grantees  of  chacras  or  quintas  must  within  two 
years  build  a dwelling  and  cultivate  the  land  according 
to  certain  prescriptions.  Authorization  is  vested  in  the 
Executive  Power  to  make  to  first  settlers  gratuitous  grants 
not  exceeding  one-fifth  part  of  the  town  lots  and  of  those 
intended  for  agricultural  or  pastoral  colonies.  Immigrants 
are  lodged  without  charge  and  given  free  board  at  the 
Immigrants  Hotel,  receive  medical  attendance  free,  and  are 
sent  to  their  destination  under  the  care  of  immigration 
officials  and  without  cost. 

Similar  provisions  are  made  by  the  colonization  laws 
of  Bolivia  and  Brazil.  Immigrants  into  Bolivia — namely, 
any  foreign  workingmen,  agriculturalists,  or  artisans  de- 
siring to  settle  in  Bolivia — are  transported  to  their  des- 
tination free  of  charge,  allowed  free  entry  for  their  bag- 
gage, implements  and  utensils,  and  given  the  free  choice 
of  a plot  of  124  acres  of  land  at  a price  equivalent  to 
about  10  cents  per  acre. 

The  Brazilian  Government,  which  is  the  most  active  in 
fostering  colonization  and  maintains  a propaganda  service 
in  Europe,  likewise  furnishes  free  transportation  from 
Europe  or  America  to  the  locality  in  Brazil  chosen  by 
the  immigrant,  provides  temporary  lodgings  and  food 
and  medical  attendance,  supplies  the  immigrant  with 


330  The  Field,  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America 

necessary  implements,  animals,  and  seeds,  and  offers  for 
sale  at  long  credit  “a  plot  of  land  properly  divided  and 
marked  out  with  one  portion  of  it  cleared  and  prepared 
for  preliminary  cultivation,  and  a house  erected  with  the 
necessary  domestic  accommodations.”  The  Brazil  Rail- 
way Company  has  for  some  time  been  cooperating  with 
the  Government  in  attracting  desirable  settlers. 

In  this  day  and  age,  no  intending  colonizer  of  unsettled 
territory  will,  it  is  taken  for  granted,  harbor  vain  expecta- 
tions as  to  the  conditions  in  which  he  will  have  to  live 
until  he  has  developed  his  property. 

Even  in  the  United  States,  government  lands  are  often 
away  from  the  beaten  track  of  transportation  and  com- 
munciation,  the  environment  is  primitive,  and  the  life  is 
lonesome  for  those  who  do  not  constantly  keep  busy  or 
find  sources  of  cheerfulness  in  their  domestic  circle.  In 
Latin  America,  this  is  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception, 
and  the  ordinary  inconveniences  are  aggravated  by  the 
fact  that  the  language  and  customs  are  foreign  to  Ameri- 
cans and  that  not  many  Americans  have,  as  yet,  taken  up 
land  in  Latin  America.  Hence,  community  colonization 
of  the  sort  carried  on  so  successfully  by  the  Germans 
should  prove  more  satisfactory  than  individual  settle- 
ment. The  Latin  American  governments  are,  almost  with- 
out exception,  favorable  to  this  colonizing  method  and 
usually  offer  special  inducements  for  its  encouragement. 

BENEFICIAL  INTERNATIONAL  RESULTS  OF  COLONIZATION 

The  value  of  foreign  settlements  represented  by  emigra- 
tion has  been  demonstrated  from  the  commercial  and 
political  standpoints  by  Germany,  Spain,  and  England 
A benefit  not  usually  taken  into  account,  which,  for  the 
United  States,  surpasses  even  the  commercial  and  political 
advantages,  is  the  effect  of  intimate  social  contact  on  our 
judgment  of  Latin  Americans  and  on  their  judgment  of 
us.  Wherever  there  are  settlements  of  Americans  in  Latin 
American  countries,  mutual  respect  and  tolerance  have 
sprung  up  between  the  two  nationalities. 

The  fear  of  American  hegemony  would  be  much  reduced 


The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America  331 


if  more  Americans  had  home  interests  in  Latin  America 
and  if  as  a nation  we  seemed  less  given  to  merely  super- 
ficial exploitation. 

The  advice  given  by  Mr.  Roger  Babson  to  our  business- 
men will  apply  thoroughly  in  a more  general  sense: 

If  the  people  of  the  United  States  hope  to  do  anything  per- 
manent in  South  America,  they  must  adopt  the  German  apprentice 
system,  under  which  the  best  young  men  go  to  foreign  fields 
for  periods  of  ten  or  more  years,  often  marrying  native  women 
and  sometimes  settling  down  for  life.  Our  hasty  methods  have 
already  made  us  looked  down  upon  as  “four-flushers  and  bluffers.” 
We  ought  either  to  stop  talking  about  South  America,  or  send 
our  young  men  down  there  to  stay  and  solve  the  problems  seriously 
as  do  the  young  men  of  Germany  and  England. 

Commercial,  industrial,  and  agricultural  settlement  in 
Latin  America  is  a step  which  should  logically  follow  our 
growing  trade  and  political  relations  with  Latin  America 
and  the  gradually  decreasing  opportunities  for  men  of 
small  means  in  the  United  States.  It  should  be  accompanied 
by  the  establishment  of  American  newspapers  similar  to 
the  English  “Express,”  the  “Uruguay  Weekly  News,”  and 
the  “Times”  of  Uruguay,  the  “River  Plate  Observer”  of 
Buenos  Aires,  and  the  “West  Coast  Leader”  of  Lima;  by 
an  expansion  of  American  scientific  research,  investigation, 
and  expert  advice;  and  by  the  establishment  of  American 
schools  in  Latin  American  cities. 

The  feeling  expressed  by  Dr.  Lauro  Muller,  former 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  Brazil,  with  regard  to  the 
location  of  American  schools  in  Latin  America  is  shared 
by  many  prominent  Latin  Americans : 

But  there  is  another  thing  which  you  people  could  do  that 
would  serve  as  a wonderful  means  of  bringing  us  together.  It 
is  sort  of  a pet  project  of  mine.  I referred  to  it  when  in  your 
country  in  1913.  It  is  that  some  of  the  business  men  representing 
the  alumni  of  Harvard,  Yale,  Princeton,  and  your  other  univer- 
sities, club  together  and  start  a real  “American”  college  in  Rio 
de  Janeiro.  . . . We  need  a real  big  affair  here  in  Rio  de  Janeiro 
with  professors  from  your  country  teaching  the  English  language 
and  the  North  American  ways  to  our  boys. 

Several  excellent  American  schools  already  established 


332  The  Field  of  Opportunity  in  Latin  America 

and  highly  popular  in  various  Latin  American  cities,  among 
which  should  be  mentioned  the  branch  of  Boston  University 
at  Havana,  vouch  for  the  practicability  of  Dr.  Muller’s 
suggestion. 

Societies  exist  in  Europe  for  the  benefit  of  prospective 
settlers  and  immigrants  who  need  advice  about  Latin 
America.  Various  bureaus  are  maintained  in  the  European 
capitals  for  the  purpose  of  imparting  commercial  and  gen- 
eral information  and  with  a view  to  interesting  Europeans 
in  the  Latin  American  republics.  A Brazilian  journal  is 
published  in  Paris,  and  an  eminent  Italian  statesman  has 
recently  visited  Brazil  in  order  to  enlist  support  for  the 
Italian  newspaper  “II  Mondo,”  which  proposes  to  become 
the  mouthpiece  of  Italians  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 
The  Argentine  Republic  commissioned  Don  Vicente  Blasco 
Ibanez,  the  author  of  The  Four  Horsemen  of  the  Apoca- 
lypse, to  write  a volume  on  the  Greatness  of  Argentina 
for  dissemination  in  Spain.  In  one  way  or  another,  close 
contact  between  Latin  America  and  Europe  is  kept  alive; 
to  many  districts  in  Europe,  “America”  has  come  to  mean 
Latin  America  or  South  America,  and  not  North  America ; 
and  Europeans  are  encouraged  to  think  of  South  America 
as  a possible  future  home. 

Much  work  of  this  nature  should  be  undertaken  in  the 
United  States.  Especially  useful  would  be  a central  bureau 
capable  of  giving  definite  information  and  impartial  advice 
on  industrial,  agricultural,  and  educational  opportunities 
in  Latin  America.  An  ‘ ‘ opportunities  bureau  ’ ’ would  sup- 
plement in  an  important  way  the  labors  of  the  Pan  Amer- 
ican Union. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


AS  LATIN  AMERICANS  SEE  US 

To  most  Latin  Americans  we  are  still  “Yankees” 
( yanquis ). 

The  European  notion  of  the  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
in  vogue  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  and 
represented  accurately  enough,  though  subjected  to  some 
of  the  slapstick  touches  of  comedy,  by  Sardou’s  L’Oncle 
Sam  and  Les  Femmes  Fortes,  is  still  in  the  main  the  Latin 
American  view  of  us  as  people  with  distinctive  racial 
characteristics  or  national  traits. 

Our  cartoonists  and  tourists  have  left  in  Europe  an  image 
of  the  typical  American  which  is  almost  indelible.  Trans- 
planted to  Latin  America  under  European  auspices,  this 
image  has  become  not  only  a symbol,  but  a reality.  Shrewd 
“Uncle  Sam”  in  his  nondescript,  patriotic  uniform  of  the 
old  Yankee  Doodle  days  and  brought  down  to  date  by  the 
addition  of  the  Rooseveltian  “big  stick”  subsists  in  the 
mental  vision  of  Latin  Americans  as  a prejudgment  which 
every  individual  American  can  dissipate  only  through 
actual,  corporal  presence  and  agreeable  personal  qualities. 

The  persistence  of  the  “Uncle  Sam”  conception  may  be 
explained  on  several  grounds. 

“Uncle  Sam”  was  accepted  by  ourselves  as  a national 
trade-mark  or  brand  when  New  England  dominated  our 
national  life.  The  features  and  attitude  of  “Uncle  Sam” 
therefore  reflect  the  sharp  facial  characteristics  and  the 
spare  form  of  those  unmitigated,  ingenious  traders  of  our 
East  Coast — the  Phoenicians  of  the  New  World.  Were 
a composite  national  trade-mark  to  be  designed  now,  the 
picture  would  have  to  be  quite  different.  The  more  stal- 
wart frame  and  the  broader  lineaments  of  the  citizens  of 
the  central  and  western  states  cannot  be  compressed  within 

333 


334 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


the  lines  of  “Uncle  Sam,”  and,  moreover,  the  youthfulness, 
the  boldness,  and  the  “breeziness”  of  our  Westerners  would 
ill  comport  with  the  elderly  and  rather  pinched  expression 
of  the  traditional  “Uncle  Sam.” 

WHY  WE  ARE  “THE  AMERICANS” 

A Latin  American,  then,  who  has  never  seen  an  Amer- 
ican, or  has  seen  only  types  resembling  the  national  cartoon, 
will  almost  necessarily  visualize  us  in  the  one  mold  of  the 
New  England  trader  of  a past  age:  and  Latin  American 
politicians  and  writers  who  wish  to  perpetuate  this  image 
of  us,  along  with  the  invidious  phrase  “dollar  diplomacy,” 
will  perforce  term  us  yanquis,  just  as  our  own  unwitting 
citizens  are  so  often  prone  to  term  all  Latin  Americans 
“natives,”  “spiggotties,”  and  “greasers.”  Chauvinism 
and  jingoism  are  always  ready  to  generalize  their  animus 
in  the  shape  of  a derogatory  catchword  or  brand. 

But  a legitimate  and  innocuous  reason  also  underlies 
the  use  of  the  term  yanqui.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  form 
a euphonious  adjective  or  noun  of  nationality  from  the 
compound  “United  States” — unless  we  were  to  adopt  the 
none  too  harmonious  expression  “United  Statesian. ” Even 
that  would  be  open  to  objection,  for  there  are  the  United 
States  of  Mexico  in  North  America  and  the  United  States 
of  Venezuela  and  the  United  States  of  Brazil  in  South 
America.  The  suggestion  that  we  adopt  the  appellation 
“Usona”  (United  States  of  North  America) — which  would 
probably  make  us  “Usonans”  or  “Usonians” — has  met 
with  no  popular  favor.  What,  then,  is  there  left  for  Latin 
Americans  to  call  us  except  yanquis,  even  when  no  feeling 
of  hostility  is  insinuated  into  the  term? 

The  attempt  is  now  being  made,  chiefly,  it  appears, 
through  the  efforts  of  the  Pan  American  Union,  to  natural- 
ize among  Spanish-speaking  peoples  a distinctive  name  for 
us  which  shall  not  wound  the  sensibilities  of  other  Amer- 
icans in  the  Western  Hemisphere  and  shall  still  have  the 
flavor  of  Spanish  terminology.  Estadunidense  or  estado- 
unidense  (pertaining  to  the  United  States,  or  an  inhabitant 
of  the  United  States)  has  received  some  acceptance  in  news- 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


335 


papers,  magazines,  and  text  books,  and  may,  it  is  hoped, 
finally  displace  yanqui  and  even  americano.  Its  use  should 
certainly  be  encouraged  in  Latin  America,  for  yanqui  is 
not  flattering  to  us,  and  americano,  apparently  arrogated  to 
ourselves,  is  more  distasteful  to  the  other  Americans  than 
we  can  have  any  idea  of. 

If  estadunidense  succeeds  in  becoming  a common  Spanish 
word,  we  shall  have  the  novel  experience  of  being  indebted 
to  foreigners  for  a most  valuable  term  which  we  have  thus 
far  been  unable  to  invent  for  ourselves. 

It  is  inconceivable  to  most  of  us  that  anybody  should 
find  fault  with  our  choice  of  the  name  “American.”  We 
know,  for  our  own  part,  that,  we  did  not  steal  anything 
belonging  to  others.  “American”  came  to  be  applied  to 
us  in  a perfectly  natural  historical  way.  The  first  country 
in  the  New  World  to  evolve  a nationality  of  its  own  was 
certain  to  have  the  appellation  “American”  fastened  upon 
it.  No  deep  laid  plot  was  needed  for  filching  the  term 
from  just  claimants.  We  happened  to  constitute  the 
earliest  clear-cut  nation;  “United  States”  offered  difficul- 
ties to  the  formation  of  derivatives;  and  the  practice  of 
the  outside  world  was  fully  as  potent  as  our  own  practice 
in  dedicating  ‘ ‘ American  ’ ’ to  our  uses. 

Judging,  however,  from  the  almost  universal  feeling  in 
Latin  America,  we  grabbed  “American”  without  so  much 
as  a “ by-your-leave, ” in  complete  accord  with  our  “well 
known”  grabbing  propensities.  Many  are  the  pages  of 
burning  invective  which  have  been  filled  with  denunciation 
of  our  egregious  conceit  in  calling  ourselves  “Americans,” 
to  the  hurt  and  damage  of  the  other  Americans : and  many 
are  the  shifts  used  by  meticulous  Latin  Americans  and 
Spaniards  to  avoid  conceding  to  us  the  right  to  the  term. 

“The  prestige  of  the  United  States,”  remarks  Senor  F. 
Garcia  Calderon  in  his  vigorous  book,  Latin  America:  Its 
Rise  and  Progress,  published  in  1913,  “their  imperialism, 
and  their  wealth,  have  cast  a shade  over  the  less  orderly 
Latin  republics  of  the  south.  The  title  of  America  seems 
to  be  applied  solely  to  the  great  imperial  democracy  of 
the  North.”  Throughout  his  undeniably  acute  and  re- 


336 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


markable  work,  therefore,  Senor  Calderon  conscientiously 
evades  “American”  wherever  possible  and  substitutes 
“North  American,”  “Yankee,”  “the  Anglo-Saxons  of 
America,”  “the  people  of  the  United  States.”  Surely,  the 
feeling  of  resentment  against  the  restriction  of  “Amer- 
ican ” to  us  must  be  high  when  a man  of  Senor  Calderon ’s 
position  and  talent  finds  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  torture 
his  vocabulary  to  such  an  extent  merely  to  escape  the  use 
of  a commonly  accepted  term  which  arouses  no  special 
debate  outside  of  Latin  American  and  Spain ! 

The  question  at  issue,  though  it  may  appear  insignificant 
to  us,  is  really  important  because  it  represents  a typical 
point  of  view.  If  there  is  something  inherently  offensive 
to  Latin  Americans  in  the  application  of  “American”  to 
us,  we  must  do  something  about  it.  We  cannot  eradicate 
the  antagonism  by  simply  asserting  that  we  have  the  name 
and  do  not  care  what  the  Latin  Americans  think.  If  Latin 
American  friendship  or  Pan  Americanism  means  anything 
to  us,  we  may  at  least  try  to  allay  ill  feeling  on  this  score 
by  undertaking  a campaign  of  education  as  to  the  historical 
origin  and  growth  of  the  custom  of  limiting  “American” 
to  us. 

On  just  such  trifles  is  sentimental  hostility  between 
nations  often  built.  An  analysis  of  the  Latin  American 
appreciation  of  American  character  and  social  ideals  shows 
that  while  intelligent  opinion  has  an  adequate  comprehen- 
sion of  our  real  virtues  and  merits,  popular  opinion,  which 
is  only  too  frequently  neither  intelligent  nor  intelligible, 
misunderstands  us  because  disproportionate  emphasis  is 
laid  on  superficial  appearances  or  on  prejudiced  impres- 
sions which  have  become  an  integral  element  of  the  Latin 
American  criticism  of  foreign  life.  To  know  the  common 
reactions  of  Latin  Americans  to  American  stimuli  is  to 
know  Latin  America  better,  and,  perhaps,  to  know  ourselves 
a little  more  impartially. 

Taking  their  cue  partly  from  the  “Yankee”  idea,  partly 
from  our  intense  preoccupation  with  commerce,  our  boasted 
plebeian  or  democratic  origin,  mode  of  life,  and  political 
and  social  habits,  the  architecture  of  our  metropolitan  cities, 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


337 


our  apparent  nervous  haste  in  everything  that  we  do,  in- 
cluding eating,  and  our  extensive  advertising  methods,  and 
partly  from  the  superannuated,  but  still  extant,  old-world 
European  conception  of  us  as  a nation  of  somewhat  uncouth 
and  blundering  Philistines,  the  Latin  Americans  have  fabri- 
cated a standard  image  of  us,  on  the  pedestal  of  which 
might  be  carved  the  all  illuminating  dollar  sign. 

The  average  educated  Latin  American  professes  to  ex- 
plain our  entire  psychology  and  our  entire  social  structure 
principally  by  our  interest  in  the  dollar.  Why  do  we 
pursue  a certain — or  uncertain — political  policy?  Because 
of  the  dollar?  Why  our  sky-scrapers?  Because  of  the 
dollar?  Why  the  particular  forms  which  our  luxuries 
take  ? Because  of  the  dollar.  Why  our  artistic  monuments, 
our  great  athletic  stadiums,  our  style  of  clothes,  our  Pull- 
man cars,  our  crowded  universities,  our  literature?  Be- 
cause of  the  dollar. 

THE  EUROPEAN  LEGACY  OF  DEPRECIATION 

The  science  of  human  behavior,  everywhere  else  so  com- 
plex, becomes  wonderfully  simplified,  in  the  minds  of  many 
Latin  Americans,  when  applied  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States;  for  the  motives  of  American  action  and  thought 
are  few  and  transparent.  The  dollar,  a shrewd  naivete, 
and  something  like  “Yankee  luck”  explain  what  we  are 
and  what  we  have  become. 

I cannot  think  [writes  the  fictitious  Chilean  of  Serior  Tancredo 
Pinochet’s  clever  satire]  what  they  do  in  the  schools  of  this 
country,  since  no  culture  or  manners  are  taught.  Their  only 
object  appears  to  be  that  of  preparing  the  individual  to  make 
the  dollar : a species  of  aggressiveness  in  business.  On  no  account 
would  I consent  to  have  my  children  educated  here. 

We  have  heard  that,  of  course,  before,  and  much  more 
besides.  It  is  the  echo  of  the  old  European  appraisal  of 
America  and  Americans.  Lack  of  culture,  lack  of  manners, 
lack  of  an  artistic  tradition,  lack  of  a historical  past,  lack 
of  an  aristocracy,  have  made  us  a multitude  of  newly  rich, 
of  arrant  materialists.  We  simply  have  no  taste  for  the 
finer  things,  and  are  condemned  by  our  national  ideals 


338 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


to  a coarse  existence  unbrightened  by  the  rainbow  of  fancy, 
of  delicacy,  of  poetic  romance.  Our  population  is  made 
up  chiefly  of  immigrants  who  came  here  to  improve  their 
condition:  and  what  can  be  expected  of  them? 

But  here,  as  in  so  many  phases  of  life,  it  is  necessary 
to  make  distinctions.  Not  all  Latin  Americans  are  con- 
vinced that  we  are  Philistines,  and  not  all  believe  that  our 
acts  of  political  intervention  have  had  a purely  selfish 
motive  or  resulted  only  in  exploitation  for  our  own  profit 
or  aggrandizement. 

The  number  of  Latin  Americans  who  come  into  personal 
contact  with  citizens  of  the  United  States  is  increasing 
steadily  and  rapidly:  and  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases 
esteem  and  respect  follow  any  acquaintanceship  that  is 
more  than  cursory.  Latin  American  students  who  frequent 
our  schools  and  colleges,  if  they  choose  to  enter  into  the 
social  life  about  them,  carry  away  with  them  a real  admira- 
tion for  our  school  system,  for  Americanism  in  general, 
and  for  individuals  in  particular.  Latin  American  writers 
and  lecturers  who  have  visited  us  acknowledge  that  they 
have  been  treated  with  signal  hospitality,  and  admit  the 
scholarly  ability  and  intellectual  honesty  of  our  thinkers. 
Men  and  women  from  Latin  America  who  attend  the 
various  congresses  in  which  delegates  from  all  the  Amer- 
ican republics  take  part  have  nothing  but  praise  for  the 
mental  breadth,  sincerity,  humanitarian  spirit,  and  culture 
and  personal  charm  of  the  Americans  with  whom  they  dis- 
cuss matters  of  common  interest  and  by  whom  they  are 
entertained.  In  the  main,  too,  though  with  numerous  dis- 
heartening exceptions,  our  businessmen  have  made  a favor- 
able impression  on  Latin  American  businessmen,  and  the 
qualities  which  characterize  the  best  American  business 
dealings  are  prized  in  Latin  America  almost  as  highly  as 
the  proverbial  British  traits. 

Rarely  has  a Latin  American  serious  fault  to  find  with 
any  respectable  American  whom  he  has  come  to  know  rather 
intimately. 

Criticism  is  usually  directed  against  us  as  a mass,  and 
not  as  individuals.  The  most  prolific  criticism,  naturally, 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


339 


lias  to  do  with  our  politics:  and  yet,  excluding  men  of  the 
past  like  Sarmiento,  who  idolatrized  everything  originating 
in  the  United  States,  many  modern  Latin  Americans,  while 
intimating  that  our  political  actions  are  not  wholly  altru- 
istic, are  ready  to  render  justice  to  our  real  achievements. 
Don  Alfredo  Colmo,  a gifted  Argentine  contemporary, 
demonstrates  an  earnest  desire  to  see  chiefly  good  in  our 
much  discussed  supervision  of  the  Dominican  Republic. 

Of  the  following  I have  evidence  [he  states  in  a curious  article 
entitled  Pan  Americanism  and  Company  and  reprinted  in  Inter- 
America]  : that  the  North  American  occupation  has  aroused  the 
opposition  of  the  Dominican  politicians  alone.  The  rest  of  the 
population  not  only  has  not  regretted  its  presence,  but,  in  some 
cases,  it  has  gone  so  far  as  to  praise  it  and  request  that  it 
continue.  So  it  is  with  the  journalists,  who  have  enjoyed  a liberty 
they  did  not  have  before  for  the  expression  of  their  opinions. 
So  it  is  with  the  merchants  and  industrials,  who  have  been  able 
to  develop  in  a confidence  and  security  that  have  resulted  from 
a condition  undisturbed  by  revolts,  formerly  only  too  frequent. 
It  is  so  too  with  the  people  in  general,  who  have  been  brought 
face  to  face  with  progressive  educational  enterprises  that  they 
had  not  seen  thitherto. 

If  the  suspicions  of  the  common  run  of  Latin  American 
politicians  for  the  past  fifty  years  had  been  confirmed  by 
facts,  the  United  States  would  now  be  in  actual  possession 
of  more  Latin  American  territory  than  Porto  Rico  and  the 
Panama  Canal  Zone.  That  we  have  not  gone  further,  when 
it  was  easily  possible  for  us  to  do  so,  has  made  many  Latin 
Americans  wonder  if  we  have  not  really  been  sincere  in 
disclaiming  any  desire  for  territory  not  belonging  to  us. 

In  addition,  those  who  reflect  have  realized  that  even 
Porto  Rico  and  the  Canal  Zone  came  beneath  the  Amer- 
ican flag  under  practically  unavoidable  circumstances  and 
in  a not  unworthy  manner.  The  Spanish  downfall  in  Cuba 
meant  that  Porto  Rico  would  go  to  some  ofher  foreign 
power.  What  was  more  logical  than  that  it  should  be  taken 
under  the  wing  of  the  United  States,  which,  moreover,  paid 
something  for  it,  has  granted  its  inhabitants  American 
citizenship,  and  has  given  it  a liberal  government?  The 
Canal  Zone,  though  serving  the  United  States,  does  not  be- 


340 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


long  in  any  legal  sense  to  our  government,  and  the  privileges 
connected  with  it  are  being  paid  for  by  annual  payments 
to  the  Republic  of  Panama.  The  Danish  West  Indies,  now 
known  as  the  Virgin  Islands,  lying  within  the  Latin 
America  area,  were  bought  by  the  United  States  at  a price 
acceptable  to  the  former  owners. 

The  imperial  American  bugaboo  conjured  up  so  fre- 
quently by  Latin  American  orators  is  recognized  by  fair- 
minded  Latin  Americans  as  a mere  phantom : and  the  fear 
of  the  extension  of  American  territory  over  Latin  America 
has  begun  to  subside  among  trained  observers.  Even  such 
episodes  as  President  Wilson’s  unfortunate  note  to  Chile 
and  Peru,  sent  while  he  was  on  his  way  to  Paris,  are  now 
regarded  as  but  transitory  incidents  begotten  of  special 
circumstances  or  personal  feeling,  and  not  representative 
of  either  official  or  public  sentiment. 

A NEW  POLITICAL.  VIEW  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

It  may,  indeed,  be  declared  with  some  assurance  that 
a new  political  view  of  the  United  States  is  coming  into 
being  among  thoughtful  Latin  Americans.  Instead  of  per- 
sisting in  the  notion  that  the  United  States  is  avid  for 
new  territorial  possessions  in  the  lands  to  the  south,  the 
idea  is  becoming  current  that  the  United  States,  like  Great 
Britain,  is  intent  only  on  the  expansion  of  its  commerce. 
If  this  belief  should  become  the  popular  one  in  Latin 
America,  and  if  the  integrity  of  Mexico — the  touchstone  of 
our  sincerity  in  Latin  American  affairs — is  left  undisturbed, 
much  of  the  hostility  and  suspicion  hanging  over  from  the 
past  will  disappear  within  a comparatively  short  time,  and 
our  interest  in  Latin  America  will  be  accepted  on  a par 
with  British,  French,  Spanish,  and  German  interests. 

Between  our  culture  and  Latin  American  culture  there 
is,  of  course,  no  such  material  antagonism  as  there  is 
presumed  to  be  between  our  political  aims  and  the  political 
aspirations  of  Latin  America.  Nevertheless,  as  the 
vehemence  of  political  denunciation  against  the  United 
States  wanes,  the  emphasis  on  cultural  differences  appears 
to  become  more  marked, 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


341 


To  listen  to  some  Latin  Americans,  one  would  suppose 
that  the  United  States  is  endeavoring  to  submerge  the 
traditional  customs,  manners,  and  tastes  of  their  country- 
men beneath  a superstructure  of  hated  foreign  culture  or 
Kultur.  Yet  no  evidence  is  at  hand  of  any  malevolent 
ambitions  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  in  this  direction, 
in  spite  of  the  truth,  as  Don  Luis  Pascarella,  of  Argentina, 
points  out,  that  in  many  externals  the  United  States  has 
been  supplanting  European  usages : 

It  may  be  affirmed  that  between  1904  and  1910  all  our  shoe 
factories — for  example — adopted  American  machinery.  Foot  wear 
itself  abandoned  the  traditional  Frauco-English  last  and  adopted 
that  of  the  north.  Furniture  connected  with  the  several  branches 
of  business  replaced  the  old  varieties  that  had  been  supplied  by 
Europe.  Sectional  book  shelves  to  meet  all  requirements  were 
substituted,  with  evident  advantage,  for  the  heavy  and  incon- 
venient cabinets. 

Furthermore,  the  American  business  suit  for  men,  the 
American  hat  for  men  and  women,  American  shop  arrange- 
ments, and  the  American  plate-glass  store-front  have  made 
their  way  in  many  countries  of  Latin  America.  But  always, 
the  acceptance  of  American  innovations  has  come  spon- 
taneously, and  without  any  other  pressure  than  American 
salesmanship. 


AMERICAN  “kultur”? 

It  is  well  to  insist  on  this  detail  now,  for  the  cry  will 
undoubtedly  be  raised  later  of  attempts  by  the  United 
States  to  cram  its  Kulture  down  the  throats  of  the  weaker 
Latin  American  nations. 

What,  then,  is  this  defective  cultural  condition  in  the 
United  States  which  Latin  Americans  criticise  and  Amer- 
ican writers  and  travelers  often  deplore  after  visiting  the 
Latin  American  republics  ? Is  it  the  result  of  some  inherent 
incapacity  or  only  of  appearances  which  grate  on  a Latin 
American  used  to  the  European  ways  of  his  own  land  or 
of  Europe? 

The  Latin  American  stepping  off  the  ship  at  New  York 
— unless  he  comes  from  Buenos  Aires,  where  the  noise  and 


342 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


the  bustle  of  a great  metropolis  are  fully  as  overpowering 
as  in  any  world  mart — is  immediately  struck  by  a lack  of 
respect  for  persons  amounting  to  irreverence. 

In  his  own  seaport,  where  he  is  known  as  an  individual 
of  consequence — for  the  traveler  is  naturally  a gentleman 
of  means  and  social  standing,  as  is  proved  by  the  very 
fact  that  he  is  traveling  in  far  places — he  never  fails  to 
command  attention  and  an  almost  feudal  courtesy.  Cus- 
toms officials  harken  deferentially  to  his  requests,  porters 
humbly  await  his  orders,  coachmen  or  taxicab  drivers  watch 
anxiously  for  the  snap  of  his  fingers  or  the  lifting  of  his 
hand.  If  he  is  unknown  at  the  Latin  American  port  from 
which  he  embarks,  his  dress  and  his  bearing  infallibly 
disclose  his  elevated  station,  and  tips  well  distributed  bring 
him  the  service  to  which,  in  a land  full  of  servants,  where 
every  household  has  more  servants  than  it  knows  what  to 
do  with,  he  has  always  been  accustomed. 

Here,  in  New  York,  in  the  midst  of  a strange  jargon, 
he  feels  lost.  He  is  jostled  about  like  a nobody.  If  he  does 
not  pay  close  attention,  he  may  be  run  over  by  a truck  or 
an  automobile.  His  conventional  European  clothes  do  not 
single  him  out  for  special  civility,  for  the  man  in  incon- 
spicuous tweeds  next  to  him  may  be  a multimillionaire. 
If  he  shows  annoyance  at  any  incident,  he  is  answered  back 
in  a threatening  tone.  At  the  offices,  he  is  shoved  along  a 
line  without  being  able  to  enjoy  special  privileges  or  to 
indulge  in  a little  leisurely  sociability.  If  he  manages  to 
secure  a taxicab,  his  feeling  of  conferring  a favor  is  ruined 
by  the  conviction,  forced  upon  him  by  the  manner  of  the 
chauffeur,  that,  for  some  unaccountable  reason  and  in  spite 
of  his  unworthiness,  he  is  being  favored  out  of  sheer  luck. 

He  goes  to  a hotel — a stupendous,  crowded,  glaring  hotel. 
“No  room,”  the  clerk  may  tell  him  in  a quick,  aggressive 
tone.  Mine  host  does  not  come  to  bow  before  him.  The 
atmosphere  is  not  homelike,  cheerful — unless  he  manages 
to  find  a hotel  devoted  to  the  needs  of  Latin  Americans,  of 
which  there  are  a few  in  New  York.  When  he  does  succeed 
in  securing  accommodations,  the  superiority  of  our  modern 
improvements  somehow  fails  to  impress  him.  It  is  all  very 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


343 


well  to  know  that  he  can  get  what  he  wants  by  a series  of 
signals,  but  the  personal  element  is  sadly  lacking.  He 
resents  the  automatic  character  of  American  civilization, 
for  he  has  not  been  used  to  it.  To  him  it  is  as  ridiculous 
as  Quentin’s  description  of  it  was  to  French  audiences  in 
1860,  when  Sardou’s  Lcs  Femmes  Fortes  was  one  of  the 
theatrical  hits  of  the  day. 

“Talk  about  your  Opera  tricks!”  [exclaims  the  l.alf-Ameri- 
canized  Quentin  in  that  comedy,  who  has  just  returned  from 
the  United  States]  “What  a poor  exhibition!  You  are  in  your 
room.  You  touch  a button,  and  a speaking-tube  cries  at  the  other 
end  of  the  hotel : ‘Mr.  Lachapelle  wants  a bootjack !’  The  boot- 
jack  pops  up  instantaneously  through  the  floor ! Or,  ‘Mr.  Lacha- 
pelle wants  to  have  his  clothes  brushed !’  A little  brush  comes 
down  from  the  ceiling  and  lovingly  brushes  you  from  head  to 
foot.  Do  you  want  a bath?  Turn  that  key!  Your  bed  is 
transformed  into  a bath  to  the  sound  of  delicious  music.  Tap 
here,  and  your  lamp  is  extinguished!  Knock  there,  and  your 
fire  is  lit ! Pull  this  cord : here  is  your  newspaper ! Push  this 
plug : here’s  your  soup  ! Finally,  touch  this  spring — your  soiled 
shirt  disappears  through  the  chimney  and  comes  back  laundered 
through  the  bottom  of  the  door!” 

Accustomed  as  we  are  to  all  our  modern  contrivances 
— our  electric  buttons,  our  steam  radiators,  our  individual 
telephones,  cur  valet  service,  and  the  like — we  cannot 
understand  how  anybody  with  a grain  of  efficiency  can 
affect  to  scorn  them  or  to  look  on  them  with  indifference. 

But  the  Latin  American,  like  the  average  Frenchman, 
Italian,  or  Spaniard,  does  not  pride  himself  on  this  par- 
ticular brand  of  efficiency.  It  is  too  mechanical,  too  cold, 
too  destructive  of  human  relationships.  What,  after  all, 
does  it  contribute  to  life?  How  much  better  is  it,  either, 
than  the  system  to  which  he  has  been  habituated?  We 
push  a button:  he  orders  a servant.  We  turn  on  the  heat: 
he  tells  a servant  to  make  a fire  or  to  stir  it  up.  We  go 
down  to  the  barbershop  and  sit  in  public  in  a stiff  chair: 
he,  if  he  wants  to,  asks  the  barber  to  come  to  his  house  and 
is  shaved  and  trimmed  in  the  comfort  of  his  own  room  or 
verandah.  We  take  the  breath,  the  movement,  and  the 
color  of  life  out  of  all  our  domestic  arrangements  in  so 


244  As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 

far  as  we  can  by  the  exercise  of  Yankee  ingenuity:  he 
prefers  to  live  in  the  midst  of  vivid,  vivacious  life  itself 
— if  the  expression  may  be  used. 

Efficiency!  In  the  opinion  of  Latin  Americans  we  are 
obsessed  by  that  mania  to  the  detriment  of  the  best  human 
instincts. 

Efficiency  in  our  interpretation  signifies  extreme 
standardization,  mass  in  place  of  individuality,  and  a fac- 
tory mode  of  existence.  Efficiency  makes  us  build  huge 
edifices  towering  to  the  skies,  from  which  air,  light,  flowers, 
and  trickling  fountains  are  excluded  as  non-essentials; 
theaters  that  are  adjudged  good  or  bad  according  to  their 
seating  capacity;  eating-houses  that  can  be  emptied  of  their 
occupants  every  few  minutes;  cities  that  are  devoid  of 
personality.  Efficiency  makes  us  slaves  of  the  clock ; 
quickens  our  step  in  the  false  notion  that  we  are  doing 
things  more  rapidly  or  getting  more  work  accomplished; 
spoils  the  manners  of  shopmen  and  clerks ; causes  us  to 
eat  poorly  cooked  food;  and  induces  us  to  convert  our 
pleasures  into  timed  tasks.  We  have  lost  the  gift  of  the 
joy  of  living  because  we  have  supinely  surrendered  to  the 
Frankenstein  of  a lock-step  civilization.  We  are  the 
apotheosis  of  a mechanical  age  and  have  allowed  ourselves 
to  become  thoroughly  mechanized,  not  only  in  a physical, 
but  in  a spiritual  sense,  as  well. 

LATIN  AMERICAN  JUDGMENT  OF  OUR  NEWSPAPERS 

Our  ideas,  according  to  Latin  Americans,  are,  like  our 
clothes,  too  frequently  ready-made,  or,  to  use  a different, 
simile,  predigested.  We  do  not,  as  a matter  of  fact,  have 
individual,  but  only  mass  ideas.  Therefore  we  judge 
en  bloc.  A few  men  in  newspaper  offices  decide  each 
evening  what  the  American  public  shall  think  the  next  day 
and  serve  us  our  mental  pabulum  in  the  morning  with  the 
national  proportions  of  sugar  and  milk:  and  those  men 
receive  their  thoughts  ready  to  serve  from  a still  smaller 
number  of  men  entrenched  in  government  strongholds. 

Hence,  when  any  question  concerning  Latin  America, 
for  example,  arises,  “inspired”  opinions  circulate  with  the 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


345 


rapidity  of  telegraphic  communication,  the  public  has  its 
mind  made  up  for  it  before  it  has  finished  breakfast,  and 
with  a sublime  confidence  in  the  omniscience  of  its  sources 
of  information  stands  ready  in  unison  to  rebuke  Chile, 
simply  because  Peru  has  flattered  us  by  asking  us  to  act 
as  the  mediator  in  the  Pacific  dispute,  to  assume  a trustee- 
ship over  Dominican,  Nicaraguan,  and  Haitian  funds,  to 
enter  Mexico,  and  to  condemn  Argentine  merchants  for 
neglecting  to  take  up  at  once  the  American  merchandise 
with  which  the  market  has  been  glutted.  The  newspapers 
do  not  furnish  us  with  facts,  but  with  decisions,  and  the 
freedom  of  the  press  is  a euphemism  for  the  freedom  to 
print  what  is  permitted.  Nobody  learns  through  American 
journalism  the  truth  about  Latin  America. 

As  Don  Carlos  Castro  Ruiz  suggests : 

With  three  or  four  pages  dedicated  to  sports,  American  news- 
papers could  spare  some  lines  to  furnish  their  readers  with  somo 
material  regarding  South  American  activities. 

In  Chile,  in  our  newspapers,  we  have  two  columns  of  cabled 
news  from  the  United  States,  daily.  We  are  fully  acquainted 
with  American  political,  international  and  commercial  life. 

Occasionally  we  find  in  American  newspapers  a cable  from 
South  America  of  the  high  importance  of  the  following  article 
printed  in  a New  York  paper:  “Uruguay  Admits  American’s  Pet 
Dog.”  . . . 

Not  a word  have  I seen  regarding  the  new  Chile- Argentine 
Transandean  Railway,  from  Salta  to  Antofagasta,  which  will  cross 
the  Andes  at  a height  of  nine  thousand  feet. 

Because  our  ideas  are  stereotyped,  we  maintain  an  in- 
flexible attitude  in  intellectual  matters  wholly  out  of  keep- 
ing with  our  recognized  ductility  in  business  affairs.  The 
latest  thing  in  commerce  and  industry  we  accept  eagerly, 
even  when  the  cost  is  considerable:  the  latest  thing  in 
ideas,  whether  it  is  free  verse,  Cubism,  the  Bergsonian 
philosophy,  or  the  Einstein  theory,  we  shun  as  a pest.  We 
prefer  to  “play  safe.”  Our  intellectual  leaders  must  hide 
their  original  thought  in  the  cryptic  language  of  their 
learned  periodicals  after  the  fashion  of  Roger  Bacon  and 
his  remarkable  cipher.  There  exist  by  unwritten  law  a 
list  of  subjects  which  can  publicly  be  discussed  and  a list 


346 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


of  subjects  which  cannot  be  discussed  publicly.  “Ver- 
boten,”  though  not  plastered  on  barns,  on  the  sides  of 
houses,  and  on  the  inartistic  sign-boards  which  deface  our 
streets  and  landscapes,  has  become  as  prevalent  a caution 
in  the  United  States  as  it  was  in  the  palmy  days  of  the 
German  autocracy. 

Manifestly,  such  conclusions  reached  by  a Latin  Amer- 
ican visitor  are  true  only  up  to  a certain  point  and  beyond 
that  point  are  a libel  on  the  American  nation  and  on  Amer- 
ican ideals. 

OUR  METROPOLITAN  CITIES  NOT  A FAIR  STANDARD  FOR 
AMERICAN  LIFE  AS  A WHOLE 

It  is  true,  and  perhaps  too  true,  that  in  our  large  cities 
we  are  no  respecters  of  persons  and  are  unlikely  to  bother 
about  the  quality  of  the  individual  with  whom  we  are 
thrown  into  contact  in  our  casual  dealings;  that  we  seem 
to  exhibit  a frantic  haste  and  a brusqueness  of  manner  due 
to  the  desire  for  quick  “turnovers”  and  for  instant  service; 
—though  Miinsterberg’s  comment,  “It  has  often  been 
observed,  and  especially  remarked  on  by  German  observers, 
that  in  spite  of  his  extraordinary  tension,  the  American 
never  overdoes.  The  workingman  in  the  factory,  for 
example,  seldom  perspires  at  his  work.  This  comes  from 
a knowledge  of  how  to  work  so  as  in  the  end  to  get  out  of 
one’s  self  the  greatest  possible  amount,”  might  furnish 
food  for  reflection  to  the  Latin  American  critic ; — that  we 
build  gigantic  edifices  which  house  whole  villages  and  even 
cities  and  dwarf  the  individual  into  insignificance.  But 
metropolitan  cities  the  world  over  are  notoriously  careless 
of  the  individual,  more  kaleidoscopic  and  rapid  than 
country  towns,  bewildering  to  strangers,  and  lamentably 
impersonal  and  heartless.  Babylon,  Rome,  London,  New 
York,  and  Buenos  Aires,  though  remote  in  time  or  space 
or  both,  are  essentially  the  same  city,  inhabited  by  the 
same  people,  and  cursed  by  the  same  customs  and  manners. 
They  stand  in  the  same  relation  to  the  smaller  cities  and 
towns  as  overgrown  corporations  to  the  ordinary  business- 
man. They  are  abstractions  when  taken  as  a whole,  and 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


347 


everybody  who  passes  through  them  is  but  a transient 
whose  place  will  be  taken  by  another  transient. 

For  the  Latin  American  to  judge  us  by  our  large  cities 
is  about  as  fair  as  it  is  for  us  to  judge  his  country  by  its 
small  cities,  towns,  and  hamlets:  and  yet  that  is  what  is 
almost  invariably  done.  We  get  ideas  of  abnormal  slow- 
ness and  painfully  slow  progress  in  Latin  America,  and 
the  Latin  American  sees  chiefly  the  rapids  and  whirlpools 
of  American  life.  Neither  of  us  is  wholly  right,  and  both 
of  us  are  immeasurably  wrong,  unless  we  dwell  in  the 
foreign  country  a considerable  length  of  time  and  in  dif- 
ferent localities. 

DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  AMERICAN  AND  LATIN  AMERICAN 
INTELLECTUAL  PERSPECTIVE 

Concerning  our  imperviousness  to  ideas  per  se,  the  Latin 
American  is  not  as  much  at  fault  as  we  might  wish  him 
to  be. 

In  spite  of  the  wide  dissemination  of  education  and  the 
multiplication  of  public  libraries,  personal  thinking  is  not 
startlingly  noticeable  among  us.  Perhaps  we  educate  too 
rapidly : perhaps  we  read  too  much  and  too  quickly.  The 
fact  is,  indeed,  that  we  are  as  a nation  woefully  under- 
educated  in  many  respects  and  hardly  on  a level  with  the 
European  or  the  Latin  American.  We  lack  that  broad 
general  training  given  to  Europeans  and  Latin  Americans 
in  the  schools  of  secondary  instruction,  possess  less  facts 
less  surely — though  exposed  to  enough  facts,  Heavens 
knows ! — and  fail  to  acquire  that  philosophical  breadth  of 
vision  which  is  one  of  the  most  lasting  benefits  of  the 
European  style  of  education. 

No  doubt  we  surpass  in  numbers  the  Europeans  or  Latin 
Americans  who  have  a fair  knowledge  of  the  rudiments 
of  education : but  we  are  far  behind  them  in  the  relative 
proportion  of  our  educated  men  and  women  who  have  a 
solid  and  liberal  education.  The  graduate  of  a secondary 
school  in  Europe  or  Latin  America  generally  seems  much 
more  mature,  reflective,  and  scholarly  than  the  graduate 
of  our  American  secondary  schools. 


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As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


That  which  grates  most  on  the  Latin  American  is  our 
glorification  of  bulk  as  opposed  to  quality,  and  the  ensuing 
kind  of  distinction  which  we  take  to  ourselves.  Every- 
thing that  we  do  and  are  is  big,  bigger,  biggest.  We  are 
the  richest  country  in  the  world ; we  have  the  tallest  build- 
ings, the  largest  locomotives,  the  longest  roster  of 
millionaires,  the  biggest  bridge,  the  most  colossal  dams,  the 
greatest  varieties  of  climates,  the  finest  schools,  the  most 
expensive  sewerage  systems,  and  the  most  populous  uni- 
versities; we  give  more,  spend  more,  waste  more  than  any 
other  nation  on  earth.  It  is  not  necessary  to  present  an 
accumulation  of  details  on  this  head.  We  ourselves  recog 
nize  our  failing — if  failing  it  be.  But  we  do  not  under, 
stand  why  strangers  should  take  offense.  What  we  say 
is  usually  true:  we  have  in  fact  the  wealth,  the  men,  the 
opportunities,  the  energy,  and  the  confidence  which  we 
herald  abroad. 

Furthermore,  the  insistence  on  such  possessions  raises 
our  prestige.  There  is  no  reason  why  America  or  the 
Americans  should  take  a back  seat.  Such  a thing  as 
national  advertising  has  a definite  value.  Germany’s  fame 
and  progress  depended  chiefly  on  the  attention  which  she 
secured  by  national  advertising:  and  Great  Britain  has 
owed  not  a small  part  of  her  position  to  her  unceasing,  if 
somewhat  subtle,  self-display. 

Undoubtedly  the  Latin  American  feels  like  a “poor  rela- 
tion” when  he  is  among  us.  It  is  not  always  pleasant 
to  “poor  relations”  to  have  the  affluence  and  the  magnifi- 
cence of  their  luckier  kinsmen  dinned  into  their  ears.  Yet 
fundamentally  the  Latin  American  is  not  disturbed  by  that 
difference,  for  he  knows  that  his  own  section  of  the  globe 
lends  itself  to  the  same  sort  of  propaganda.  His  dislike 
for  our  boastfulness  is  really  based  on  his  own  character- 
istically Latin,  or  more  precisely,  French  philosophy:  and 
that  philosophy  is  summed  up  in  the  phrase  “I’honnete 
homme  ne  se  pique  de  rien,”  which  may  be  rendered  freely, 
“gentlemen  never  show  off.” 

Nearly  every  educated  or  well-to-do  Latin  American 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


349 


epends  some  years  in  Paris  or  hopes  to  do  so.  For  him 
Bornier’s  splendid  line, 

Every  man  has  two  countries,  his  own  and  France  besides, 

is  a solemn  actuality.  In  France  he  finds  social  amenities 
after  his  own  heart,  discussion  on  intellectual  and  esthetic 
topics  with  commerce  and  industry  playing  a minor  role, 
manners,  deportment,  charm,  and  scintillating  conversa- 
tion— all,  in  fact,  that  he  feels  himself  heir  to.  The  sunny, 
neo-Greek  paganism  of  Parisian  life  comes  closest  to  his 
ideal  of  Heaven  on  earth.  He  is  a welcome  guest  in  the 
select  circles  usually  presided  over  by  some  man  or  woman 
of  distinction,  membership  in  which  he  covets  more  than  a 
notice  in  the  Society  Column.  If  a poet,  he  is  listened  to 
with  attention,  and  if,  like  Kuben  Dario,  a great  poet,  he 
is  showered  with  honors.  If  a painter,  a sculptor,  a musi- 
cian, or  a writer,  he  encounters  on  every  hand  congenial 
spirits  eager  to  share  their  views  with  him.  The  fact  that 
he  is  a Latin  American,  a citizen  of  young,  undeveloped 
countries,  does  not  count  against  him. 

MISTAKEN  LATIN  AMERICAN  CRITICISM  DUE  TO  INSUFFICIENT 
KNOWLEDGE 

In  the  United  States,  he  finds  little  of  this,  and  most 
commonly  nothing.  All  that  he  can  see  or  hear  is  business 
or  politics  or  community  gossip.  Since  his  term  of  com- 
parison is  Paris,  he  concludes  that  we  are  Philistines. 

Of  course,  he  is  unjust  in  holding  us  up  to  the  Parisian 
ideal.  No  city  or  country  in  the  world  will  stand  the 
comparison.  But  if  he  could  go  about  freely  among  us, 
he  would  find  in  Greenwich  Village,  in  some  sections  of 
New  England,  such  as  Boston  and  Cape  Cod,  in  the  artists’ 
and  writers’  settlements  of  New  Hampshire,  Chicago,  and 
California,  a.ud  in  many  of  our  smaller  cities  and  towns 
and  in  our  university  centers  groups  of  men  and  women 
as  sincerely  devoted  to  the  practice  and  the  discussion  of 
the  more  humane  arts  as  he  himself  is,  and  as  familiar  with 
foreign  lands  and  with  world  thought. 


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As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


DIFFERENCE  IN  THE  GENIUS  OF  AMERICAN  AND  LATIN 
AMERICAN  JOURNALISM 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  he  receives  too  many  of  his  impres- 
sions from  the  newspapers  rather  than  from  first-hand 
observation : and  his  views  are  consequently  one-sided. 
With  the  exception  of  the  New  York  Times,  the  Sun,  the 
New  York  Evening  Post,  the  Boston  Transcript,  the  Spring- 
field  Republican,  the  Kansas  City  Star,  the  Christian 
Science  Monitor,  and  a few  other  papers,  our  news  journals 
disappoint  him.  He  is  accustomed  to  newspapers  which 
deal  in  a large  way  with  international  events,  give  much 
space  to  art  and  literature,  almost  invariably  publish  poetry 
in  a conspicuous  place,  and  encourage,  instead  of  eliminat- 
ing, personal,  literary  style. 

Our  newspapers,  with  their  stress  on  the  trivial,  the 
gossipy,  the  local;  with  their  “featuring”  of  crime;  with 
their  policy  of  emphasizing  the  advertising  on  the  page 
rather  than  the  reading-matter;  with  their  matter-of-fact 
language  in  which  there  is  not  the  slightest  note  of  esthetic 
pleasure;  and  with  their  glaring  headlines,  their  verbose 
and  often  unintelligible  “sport”  pages,  and  their  bizarre 
comic  and  “feature”  supplements,  prejudice  him  even 
when  he  is  inclined  to  an  indulgent  criticism  of  our  civili- 
zation. 

Surely  the  newspapers  must  be  representative!  They 
are  the  sources  of  the  history  of  the  future.  But  if  the 
average  American  newspaper  is  representative,  what  a hum- 
drum thing  is  this  American  life  which  it  represents ! How 
undistinguished,  how  deficient  in  originality,  how  uninspir- 
ing ! How  few  of  our  2500  or  more  daily  newspapers  have 
“personality”!  How  curiously  addicted,  too,  to  minute 
details  of  criminality,  in  a country  which  prides  itself  on 
a strait-laced  morality!  Where  everybody  reads  the 
newspapers,  even  to  the  budding  young  woman  and  the 
adolescent  boy,  no  good  augury  can  be  divined  in  the  boldly 
printed  and  voluminous  descriptions  of  unsavory  cases  of 
murder,  divorce,  rape,  and  all  manner  of  financial  and 
social  crookedness. 


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351 


The  Latin  American  cannot,  unfortunately,  appreciate 
the  genius  of  average  American  journalism.  He  is  probably 
correct  in  his  belief  that  too  much  space  is  devoted  to 
lubricity  and  uninteresting  rascality,  and  he  is  not  far 
wrong  in  doubting  the  advantages  of  printing  all  the  news 
because  it  is  news.  That  our  journalists  are  giving  the 
public  what  it  wants — if  that  is  what  they  are  trying  to 
do — does  not  speak  particularly  well  for  the  public : and 
to  give  the  public  only  what  it  wants  may  be  equivalent 
to  the  veriest  twaddle.  Newspapers  should  not  only  state 
facts,  in  his  belief,  but  also  aid  in  the  formation  of  charac- 
ter and  of  intelligent  public  opinion. 

As  an  example  of  what  can  be  done  he  points  to  La 
Prensa  and  La  Nation  of  Buenos  Aires  and  to  0 Jornal  do 
Commercio  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  of  which  Miss  Elliott  says : 

It  is  a great  paper  in  all  senses  of  the  word,  is  finely  printed — 
this  great  sheet,  often  with  thirty-two  and  sometimes  eighty  big 
pages,  eight  columns  wide,  printed  in  a language  requiring  the 
“til,”  “cedilha,”  acute  and  circumflex  accents,  constantly  employed, 
coming  out  day  after  day  almost  without  any  typographical  errors. 
Its  reviews  of  commercial  affairs  are  made  with  authority;  it  is 
remarkable  for  having  no  editorials,  anything  that  needs  to  be 
said  editorially  appearing  in  the  “Varias  Notieias”;  months  may 
pass  without  this  column  containing  more  than  chronicles  of  official 
acts  and  movements,  but  when  the  Jornal  is  moved  to  speak  its 
voice  comes  in  no  uncertain  tone.  Its  denunciations  and  pro- 
nouncements are  discussed  like  a Papal  Edict  in  the  Middle  Ages, 

and  of  which  Mr.  Bland  observes, 

He  [Dr.  Rodrigues,  the  proprietor  and  editor  of  0 Jornal ] 
took  The  Times  of  Delane  and  Buckle  as  his  model,  and  firmly 
refused  to  conform  to  twentieth-century  ideals  of  commercial 
journalism;  it  was  his  boast,  for  example,  that  he  never  allowed 
advertisements  to  appear  on  the  same  page  as  reading-matter. 

Perhaps,  after  all,  the  Latin  American’s  misconception 
of  our  newspapers  is  due  to  the  fact  that  he  does  not  grasp 
the  essential  truth  that  our  newspapers  are  local,  and  not 
national,  like  his  great  dailies  and  some  of  the  journals 
of  Europe,  and  that,  having  left  behind  the  period  when 
bigotry  and  partisanship  were  furthered  under  the  guise 
of  the  formation  of  public  opinion,  they  have  chosen  the 


352 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


saner  and  safer  course  of  presenting  the  bare  facts,  relying 
on  the  judgment  of  the  public  to  use  them  in  an  intelligent 
manner.  Moreover,  he  does  not  sufficiently  keep  in  his 
mind’s  eye  the  tawdry,  execrable  sheets  which  pass  for 
newspapers  in  so  many  of  the  smaller  cities  and  towns  of 
Latin  America. 

Personal  habits  and  business  methods  in  the  United 
States  also  come  in  for  some  adverse  criticism  on  the  part 
of  the  Latin  American.  It  is  not,  however,  to  be  assumed 
that  the  Latin  American  is  hypercritical  or  unduly  watch- 
ful of  uncomplimentary  details  in  American  life.  Usually 
he  is  a traveler  of  considerable  experience  and  recognizes 
that  variety  in  customs  and  manners  is  what  chiefly  makes 
foreign  countries  interesting.  Our  merits  he  acknowledges 
freely.  Our  democratic  spirit,  our  liberality  which  leads 
us  to  sacrifice  money  and  life  in  any  project,  that  has 
earned  our  enthusiasm,  our  general  cleanliness  in  private 
morals,  our  steadfast  belief  in  popular  education,  our 
principles  of  law  and  order,  our  fondness  for  sanitary 
surroundings,  our  practicality,  our  directness,  our  philan- 
thropy, and  our  Anglo-Saxon  sense  of  fair  play — often 
absent  in  our  dealings  with  his  country,  he  may  think,  but 
never  suffering  a total  eclipse — he  appreciates  to  the  full 
and  admires  more  than  he  is  sometimes  disposed  to  admit. 

SUSCEPTIBILITY  OF  LATIN  AMERICANS  TO  ACTS  OF  COURTESY 

Such  little  attentions  as  the  interchange  of  teachers  and 
students,  the  erection  of  the  monument  to  Bolivar,  the  pub- 
lic burial  at  Arlington  of  the  Brazilian  soldier,  Viriato 
Claudio  de  Mello,  who  fought  with  the  Seventeenth  Regi- 
ment of  the  United  States  Field  Artillery  in  the  European 
War,  the  proposed  construction  of  a half-million  dollar 
memorial  to  Brazil  on  the  occasion  of  the  celebration  of 
its  first  century  of  independence  on  September  7,  1922, 
he  is  profoundly  sensitive  of : and  how  easy  is  the  way  to 
his  heart  and  his  friendship  by  sincerely  meant  courtesies 
of  this  kind,  to  which  we  are  given  altogether  too  infre- 
quently ! 

Far  rarer  would  be  his  criticism  of  our  manners  and 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


353 


mannerisms  if  we  could  cultivate  him  on  the  sentimental, 
as  well  as  on  the  commercial,  side.  For  his  estimate  of  our 
ways  and  our  qualities  is  undoubtedly  influenced  very 
strongly  by  the  snapshot  judgments  of  our  writers  and 
travelers  who  treat  of  his  own  people. 

CUSTOMS  AND  MANNERS  DISTASTEFUL  TO  LATIN  AMERICANS 
AND  EUROPEANS 

Our  personal  manners  strike  him  as  they  used  to  strike 
the  European,  in  general,  some  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago. 

Many  of  our  practices  are  distasteful  to  him  in  the 
extreme,  but  only  because  they  offend  his  traditional  notion 
of  the  fitness  of  things.  That  an  American  man  can  walk 
down  the  street  in  his  shirt-sleeves,  or  that  he  can  allow 
himself  to  appear  in  the  company  of  a woman  with  his  coat 
slung  over  his  arm ; that  a man,  a boy,  or  even  a girl  may 
whistle  in  public;  that  nearly  everybody  should  be  a slave 
to  the  gum-chewing  habit  and  that  respectable  workingmen 
should  chew  tobacco;  that  informal  dress  should  be  per- 
mitted at  the  opera  and  at  formal  occasions  on  which  every- 
thing ought  to  be  de  rigueur ; that  we  can  lower  ourselves 
to  sitting  on  stools  in  public  eating-houses  and  hastily 
swallowing  pie,  ice-cream,  and  coffee — a horrible  combina- 
tion, in  his  opinion;  that  girls  should  be  seen  unattended 
on  the  streets  at  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night;  that  we 
should  fail  to  remove  our  hats  at  a passing  funeral  proces- 
sion; that  we  should  indulge  in  feats  of  noisy  athleticism 
and  raise  our  voices  in  roars  of  applause  at  baseball  and 
football  games;  that  a young  man  should  take  a girl  out 
for  a drive ; that  a man  should  help  in  such  menial  domestic 
duties  as  the  washing  of  dishes;  that  children  should  put 
themselves  forward  in  company;  that  we  should  drink  ice- 
water  so  incessantly,  or  at  all;  that  we  should  eat  stuffed 
turkey  with  cranberry  sauce,  artichokes  cooked  in  cinnamon, 
and  lettuce  or  tomatoes  seasoned  with  sugar — highly 
reprehensible  customs,  according  to  Senor  Pinochet’s  fic- 
titious, but  observant,  Chilean — all  these  are  practices 
which  make  a disagreeable  impression  on  the  educated 


354 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


Latin  American  or  Latin  European,  solely  because  he  is 
not  used  to  them. 

These  manners  and  mannerisms  have  all  been  berated 
before,  especially  by  British  visitors,  but  they  have  not 
prevented  us  from  winning  the  respect  of  such  men  as 
Viscount  Bryce  and  that  most  upright,  aristocratic  French 
admirer  of  American  democracy,  Alexis  de  Tocqueville. 
Even  the  ice-water  habit  has  found  converts  among  Euro- 
peans, as  Mr.  John  Graham  Brooks  points  out  in  As  Others 
See  Us: 

We  have  the  new  temper  of  which  I speak  in  Mr.  Muirhead’s 
“Land  of  Contrasts,”  in  which  he  begs  to — - 

“warn  the  British  visitor  to  suspend  his  judgment  until  he  has 
been  some  time  in  the  country.  I certainly  was  not  prejudiced 
in  favor  of  this  chilly  draught  when  I started  for  the  United 
States,  but  I soon  came  to  find  it  natural  and  even  necessary, 
and  as  much  so  from  the  dry  hot  air  of  the  stove-heated  room 
in  winter  as  from  the  natural  ambition  of  the  mercury  in  summer. 
On  the  whole,  it  may  be  philosophic  to  conclude  that  a universal 
habit  in  any  country  has  some  solid  if  cryptic  reason  for  its 
existence,  and  to  surmise  that  the  drinking  of  ice-water  is  not 
so  deadly  in  the  States  as  it  might  be  elsewhere.” 

But  what  is  to  be  done  about  it  all?  Nothing,  of  course. 

For  every  one  of  these  idiosyncrasies  we,  from  our  point 
of  view,  find  an  equivalent  in  Latin  American  personal 
habits.  Visitors  to  our  shores  must  take  us  for  what  we 
are,  just  as  Americans  traveling  in  Latin  America  must 
take  national  conventions  as  they  find  them.  The  only 
wish  that  can  be  uttered  in  either  case  is  that  the  proper 
allowances  be  made  when  traveling  and  that  customs  dis- 
tasteful to  foreigners  or  likely  to  be  misunderstood  by  them 
be  left  at  home.  Our  great  failing  as  Americans  is  to 
animadvert  upon  the  moral  status  of  the  Latin  races:  the 
Latin  American’s,  to  see  “bluff”  and  ostentation  in  every 
American  act. 

As  an  eminently  successful  commercial  nation,  we  have 
hypnotized  ourselves  into  the  belief  that  our  methods  are 
the  best  methods  and  that  they  are  applicable  to  all  sections 
of  the  globe.  The  Latin  American  begs  to  differ  with  us 
on  this  point.  To  his  way  of  thinking,  our  business  methods 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


3 55 


are  in  many  ways  the  worst  that  can  be  imagined.  How 
we  manage  to  extend  our  business  dealings  and  to  increase 
the  volume  of  our  trade,  he  cannot  explain  with  any  pre- 
cision : but  he  is  sure  that  we  have  not  created  a steady 
market  among  his  people.  Perhaps  the  reason  is  to  be 
sought  principally  in  the  fact  that  we  have  only  just  begun 
to  be  an  exporting  nation. 

The  General  Financial  Manager  of  the  American  Express 
Company,  who  has  been  visiting  the  South  American  offices 
of  his  firm,  comments  as  follows  in  the  South  American 
on  an  article  in  La  Prensa  of  Buenos  Aires 

La  Prensa  proceeds  to  quote  from  the  interesting  book  of  the 
Argentine  ex-Minister  to  the  United  States,  Dr.  Martin  Garcia 
Merou,  on  the  foreign  commerce  of  that  country  a passage  in 
which  he  set  down  the  opinions  uttered  by  the  U.  S.  Senator,  the 
Hon.  Julius  C.  Burrows,  on  discussing  the  McKinley  tariff,  accord- 
ing to  whom  the  total  value  of  the  production  of  the  United  States 
in  the  year  previous  to  that  in  which  he  spoke — including  the 
produce  from  agriculture,  manufacture,  mining  and  forestry — - 
amounted  to  21,500  millions  of  dollars.  Of  that  enormous  sum 
the  United  States  consumed  within  its  own  borders  20,000  million 
dollars  and  only  exported  1,500  million  dollars’  worth  of  goods 
to  foreign  markets.  The  speaker  then  asserted  that  great  care 
could  need  to  be  exercised  over  making  any  alterations  in  that 
state  of  things,  as  it  would  be  a fatal  mistake  to  diminish  in  any 
degree  the  country’s  capacity  to  satisfy  the  inland  demand  just 
for  the  sake  of  the  illusory  and  fleeting  advantage  of  catering 
to  some  foreign  market. 

No  doubt  the  opinion  expressed  in  this  passage  governed 
the  ideas  of  many  of  our  financial  thinkers  not  long  since 
and  accounts  for  the  defects  in  our  business  methods  noted 
by  Latin  Americans.  That  opinion,  however,  is  not  valid 
to-day,  for  we  have  had  ocular  demonstration  in  our  recent 
business  depression  of  the  importance  of  export  to  our 
national  prosperity.  Latin  American  criticism  is,  there- 
fore, especially  valuable  to  us  now  and  should  be  studied 
with  attention. 

SERIOUSNESS  OF  OUR  IGNORANCE  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 

Our  greatest  drawback,  declares  the  Latin  American 
critic,  lies  in  our  abysmal  ignorance  of  his  country  and  his 


356 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


people.  Proof  of  this  may  be  had  in  simple  questions  on 
Latin  America  addressed  to  representative  business-men, 
university  students,  and  even  college  professors.  While 
excusable,  perhaps,  in  the  latter  two  classes,  such  ignorance, 
which  goes  as  far  as  the  commission  of  egregious  geograph- 
ical blunders,  is  fatal  on  the  part  of  our  merchants.  Lack 
of  knowledge  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese  is  another  obstacle 
which  must  be  overcome  if  we  are  to  be  able  to  do  our 
business  ourselves  and  not  through  interpreters  or  through 
foreign  agents  who  are  often  likely,  because  of  prejudice 
or  because  of  friendship  for  a competing  house  or  nation, 
to  do  us  as  much  harm  as  good.  Before  we  can  hope  to 
supply  the  different  Latin  American  nations  with  the 
smaller  manufactured  articles  which  constitute  so  much 
of  the  trade  of  Great  Britain,  France,  Spain,  Germany,  and 
Japan,  we  must  understand  thoroughly  the  tastes  of  the 
people  to  whom  we  wish  to  sell  them — a phase  of  commerce 
to  which  we  have  been  notoriously  indifferent. 

These  and  allied  truths  are  so  self-evident  that  they 
require  little  discussion.  They  have  been  hammered  upon 
so  unceasingly  by  our  writers  and  lecturers  that  the  Amer- 
ican public  interested  in  Latin  America  should  now  know 
them  by  heart.  That  the  Latin  American  is  absolutely 
correct  in  his  indictment  of  our  ignorance  is  scarcely  open 
to  question. 

A DEFECT  IN  OUR  EDUCATIONAL  SYSTEM 

If,  as  is  apparent  at  present,  Latin  America  means  more 
to  us  commercially  and  politically  than  any  other  section 
of  the  world  except  Europe,  we  ought  at  least  to  arrange 
our  common  school  education  in  such  a way  as  to  familiarize 
our  growing  citizens  with  the  countries  with  which  their 
future  is  certain  to  be  inextricably  bound  up.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  a salutary  educational  revolution  would  be 
accomplished  by  the  inclusion  of  supplementary  reading 
on  Latin  America  or  of  Latin  American  geography  and 
history  in  the  upper  grades  of  our  elementary  schools  and 
in  our  high  schools. 

But  from  an  immediately  practical  standpoint,  our 


As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 


357 


failure  to  conform  to  commercial  conditions  as  they  are 
in  Latin  America  appears  suicidal  to  Latin  American 
observers,  and  predictions  are  freely  made  that  we  cannot 
possibly  maintain  our  present  ascendancy  unless  we 
materially  change  our  ways.  The  Latin  American  merchant 
will  soon  cease  to  be  dependent  on  us.  Great  Britain, 
Germany,  and  France  will  not  be  long  in  recuperating  from 
the  effects  of  the  war.  If,  in  the  meantime,  we  do  not  back 
water  on  our  policy  of  trying  to  force  our  customers  to 
accept  our  business  practice;  if  we  do  not  yield  them  the 
courtesy  and  the  deference  to  which  they  are  accustomed; 
if  we  do  not  give  up  our  habit  of  rushing  in  with  business 
propositions  before  we  have  laid  the  customary  social 
foundation,  even  in  a transaction  that  requires  only  a day 
or  two ; if  we  do  not  alter  our  credit  system ; if  we  refuse 
to  regard  Latin  American  merchants  in  general  as  trust- 
worthy and  solvent;  if  we  insist  on  making  light  of  the 
siesta  and  the  regulation  holidays  because  of  our  impatience 
to  complete  negotiations;  if  we  continue  to  speak  from  a 
high  elevation  as  superiors  to  inferiors;  if  we  do  not 
reciprocate  so  as  to  permit  Latin  American  banks  to  estab- 
lish themselves  in  the  United  States  on  the  same  liberal 
terms  that  are  granted  to  foreign  banks  in  Latin  America  f 
if  we  erect  tariff  barriers  injurious  to  the  admission  of 
Latin  American  products ; if  we  do  not  improve  our 
methods  of  shipping,  packing,  and  routing;  if  we  do  not 
fill  orders  exactly  as  requested  by  the  purchaser:  if,  in 
short,  we  do  not  conduct  our  business  relations  in  accord- 
ance with  the  tacit  rules  of  international  trade,  the  standard 
of  which  is  actually  set  by  Europe,  we  are  doomed  to  dis- 
appointment in  the  larger  trans-Caribbean  countries. 

The  Latin  American  conception  of  American  character 
and  social  and  commercial  customs  should  prove  beneficial 
to  us  in  several  ways.  As  mere  invidious  appreciation  of 
American  peculiarities  it  may  be  no  more  significant  than 
such  studies  have  a habit  of  being:  but  as  a confession  of 
Latin  American  likes,  dislikes,  and  traditional  thinking  and 
feeling  it  should  possess  unusual  interest  for  us.  Latin 
Americans  single  us  out,  rightly  or  wrongly,  for  critical 


358  As  Latin  Americans  See  Us 

comment  among  the  many  nations  which  have  considerable 
dealings  with  them.  We  cannot  afford  to  disregard  a dis- 
tinction of  this  kind.  Common  sense  dictates  that  we 
should  devote  some  effort  to  removing  some  of  the  bad 
impressions  created  by  us  as  individuals  or  as  a nation. 

If,  however,  we  can  by  some  lucky  combination  of  cir- 
cumstances win  the  sympathy  of  Latin  Americans,  as  the 
British  and  the  Germans  have  done,  the  criticism  now 
directed  against  us — which  is  really  European  and  not 
specifically  Latin  American — will  vanish  as  rapidly  as  the 
British  and  French  criticism  once  so  popular  and  the  stock- 
in-trade  of  travelers,  writers,  and  humorists.  For  a little 
sentiment  goes  a long  way  with  the  Latin  races. 


SOUTH 

AMERICA 


Greenwich 


Longitude  T~) 


Ablngton  Island 
Albemarle  Island 
BB 

Argentina D 8 

Barbados El 

Blndloc  Island  B4 
BlanqulUa . D1 


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SOUTH  AMERICA 


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Chatham  Island 

Chile C 8 

Chlloo  Island.. C 7 
Chonos 

Archipelago  C7 
Clnehn  Islands  C 1 
Clarence  Island 
C 8 

Clerko  Rocks.. G 8 
Colba  Island.. B 2 

Colombia 0 2 

Culpepper  Island 
B 1 

Curacao D 1 

Desolation  Island 
C8 

Devils  Island.. E 2 
Diego  Itamlroz 

Islands C 8 

Dutch  Guiana. E 2 
East  Island.... E 8 

Ecuador C3 

Falkland  Islands 
E 8 

Fernando  Noron- 
ha  Island.  ...G3 
French  Guiana  E2 
Galapagos 

Islands B 4 

Genovcsa C 5 

Grenada D 1 

Gultecas  Islands 
C7 

Hanovcrlsland  C8 
Hosto  Island  ..D  8 
Indefatigable 

Island C 5 

James  Island . . B 5 
Lobos  Islands . B 3 
Los  Roques... D1 
Mad  re  do  Dios 

Island C 8 

Mnlpclo  Island  B2 
Maraca  Island  F 2 
Marnjo  Islond.FS 

Margarita D 1 

Martinique. ...E  1 
Mas  a Fuera 

Island DO 

Mas  a Tlerra 

Island C 6 

Mocha  Island  .CO 
Narborough 
Navarln  Island  D8 
Panama B 8 

Puna  Island  ..BS 
Queen  Adelaide 
Archipelago  0 8 
Saint  AmbroseCO 
Saint  Felix  ...BS 
Saint  Vincent  .D 1 
Santa  Ines  Island 
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Shag  Rocks.... F 8 
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Staten  Island  .D8 
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Toitugn  Island  D1 

Trinidad El 

Trluldod  Island 
G 5 

Uruguay E 0 

Venezuela D 2 

Wellington 

Island C 7 

Wellman  Island 
West  Island  ..  .D  8 
Wollaston  Islands 
D 8 


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APPENDIX 


USEFUL  INFOKMATION 


Argentina 

Area,  1,153,418  square  miles. 

Population,  9,000,000. 

Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports  Total 

$828,477,000  $976,596,000  $1,805,073,000 


Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$322,000,000  $180,000,000 


Total 

$502,000,000 


Principal  Exports:  Meat  and  dairy  products,  wheat,  corn, 
linseed,  quebracho,  tannin,  hides,  and  wool. 

Principal  Imports:  Textiles  and  allied  products,  manu- 

factured articles  of  iron  and  steel,  railway  supplies,  agricultural 
implements,  electric  apparatus,  glass  and  chinaware,  together  with 
earths,  stones,  etc.,  chemicals,  building  materials. 

Transportation  Facilities:  22,500  miles  of  railways:  52,- 
800  miles  of  telegraph  lines;  steamship  connections  with  all 
parts  of  the  world,  fifty  lines  having  agencies  in  Buenos  Aires 
alone;  over  20  wireless  telegraph  stations. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit,  gold  peso:  value,  $.9648.  Or- 
dinary medium  of  exchange,  paper  peso , maintained  at  44  per 
cent  of  the  gold  peso  value:  about  42.5  cents  in  U.  S.  money 
at  normal  exchange. 

Weights  and  Measures):  The  metric  system  is  obligatory. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1,  6;  Feb. 

27,  28;  March  19;  April  13,  14,  15;  May  1,  25;  June  15,  29; 
July  9;  Aug.  15,  30;  Oct.  12;  Nov.  1,  11;  Dec.  8,  25. 

Names  of  the  holidays  regularly  observed,  with  dates  for  1919, 
as  examples:  Jan.  1,  New  Year’s  Day;  Jan.  6,  Epiphany; 

359 


360 


Appendix 


March  3,  Monday,  before  Lent;  March  4,  Tuesday  before  Lent; 
Apr.  17,  Holy  Thursday;  Apr.  18,  Good  Friday;  Apr.  19,  Holy 
Saturday;  May  25,  Independence  Day;  May  29,  Ascension  Day; 
June  19,  Corpus  Christi;  June  29,  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul;  July  9, 
Proclamation  of  National  Independence;  Aug.  15,  Assumption; 
Aug.  30,  Santa  Rosa  de  Lima;  Oct.  12,  Discovery  of  America; 
Nov.  1,  All  Saints'  Day;  Nov.  11,  St.  Martin  of  Tours  (Patron 
Saint  of  Buenos  Aires) ; Dec.  8,  Immaculate  Conception;  Dec.  25, 
Christmas  Day. 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 

Buenos  Aires  (capital):  Population,  1,692,327:  Important 
Newspapers,  La  Nacion,  La  Prensa,  La  Argentina,  La  Razon 
(evening),  La  Epoca  (evening)  : La  Patria  degli  Italiani 

(Italian:  (weeklies)  Caras  y Caretas,  El  Mundo  Argentino,  El 
Hogar,  El  Grafico,  Plus  Ultra,  Review  of  the  River  Plate  (Eng- 
lish) : Hotels,  Plaza,  Savoy,  Majestic,  Cecil,  Paris. 

Rosario:  Population,  250,000:  Important  Newspaper,  La 
Capital:.  Hotels,  Savoy,  Italia,  Central,  Royal,  Britannia. 

Cordoba:  Population,  135,000:  Important  Newspaper,  Los 
Principios:  Hotels,  Plaza,  San  Martin,  Victoria,  Roma. 

La  Plata : Population,  130,000 : Important  Newspaper,  El 
Dia:  Hotels,  Sportsman,  El  Argentino,  Mosquera,  Comercio. 

Tucuman:  Population,  100,000:  Important  Newspaper,  El 
Orden:  Hotels,  Savoy,  Frascati,  Artigas. 

Bahia  Blanca:  Population,  80,000:  Important  Newspaper, 
Bahia  Blanca,  Nueva  Provincia:  Hotels,  Sud  Americano,  Ar- 
gentino, Intemacional. 

Bolivia 

Area,  514,595  square  miles. 

Population,  2,820,119. 

Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$23,000,000  $54,000,000 

Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$9,000,000  $26,000,000 


Total 

$77,000,000 


Total 

$35,000,000 


Principal  Exports:  Tin  ore,  rubber,  wolfram,  silver,  copper 
ore,  bismuth,  antimony,  lead  ore,  wool,  coca,  hides. 

Principal  Imports:  Textiles  (cotton  and  wool),  flour,  coal, 


Appendix 


361 


sugar,  live  animals,  machinery,  iron  and  steel  products,  arms  and 
ammunition. 

Transportation  Facilities:  1,100  miles  of  railways;  about 
5,000  miles  of  telegraph  lines;  several  wireless  telegraph  stations. 
Bolivia  has  no  coast  line,  but  is  connected  with  the  Pacific  coast 
by  3 railway  lines. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit,  gold  boliviano:  value,  about  $.39 
at  normal  exchange  (121/2  bolivianos  are  equal  to  1 pound). 
Medium  of  exchange : gold  coin,  subsidiary  silver,  and  bank  notes 
on  a parity  with  gold. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  obligatory. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922)  : Jan.  1;  Feb.  27,  28; 
March  1;  April  13,  14,  15;  June  15;  Aug.  6;  Oct.  12;  Nov.  1,  2; 
Dec.  8,  25.  August  6 is  Independence  Day,  and  Nov.  2 is  All 
Souls’  Day.  The  other  holidays  correspond  to  those  of  Argentina, 
and  their  names  may  be  found  by  consulting  the  list, given  for 
Argentina. 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix)  : 

La  Paz  (seat  of  government):  Population,  107,000:  Im- 
portant Newspapers,  El  Diario,  El  Norte,  El  Tiempo,  La  Ver- 
dad,  La  Razon,  El  Figaro:  Hotels,  Gran  Hotel,  Hotel  Paris. 

Cochabamba:  Population,  34,000:  Important  Newspapers, 
El  Ferrocarril,  El  Republicano,  El  Heraldo:  Hotels,  Sucre, 

Americano,  Union. 

Oruro:  Population,  32,000:  Important  Newspapers,  La 
Nacion,  La  Prens'a,  El  Industrial : Hotels,  Quintanal,  Union, 
Terminus,  Comercio. 

PotosI:  Population,  30,000:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Tiempo,  La  Patria,  La  Democracia:  Hotels,  Internacional,  Cen- 
tral, Paris. 

Sucre  (legally  the  capital):  Population,  29,500:  Important 
Newspapers,  La  Prensa,  La  Manana,  La  Industria,  La  Capital : 
Hotels,  Espafia,  Hispano-Americano,  Colon. 


Brazil 


Area,  3,276,358  square  miles. 
Population,  30,553,509. 
Language,  Portuguese. 
Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 


Imports 

$459,939,186 


Exports 

$385,530,392 


Total 

$845,469,578 


Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 


Imports 

$193,052,140 


Exports 

$159,541,580 


Total 

$353,193,720 


362 


Appendix 


Principal  Exports  : Coffee,  cereals,  rubber,  hides,  sugar,  man- 
ganese ore,  cacao,  tobacco,  herva  mate  (Paraguay  tea),  frozen 
and  chilled  meats,  preserved  meats. 

Principal  Imports  : Food  products  (principally  wheat  and 
wheat  flour,  codfish,  fruits  and  nuts,  wines  and  liquors),  chemicals 
and  drugs,  iron  and  steel  manufactures  (the  chief  items  being 
fence  wire,  tin  plate  in  sheets,  corrugated  iron,  cutlery,  structural 
iron,  steel  rails,  railway  axles  and  wheels),  cotton  manufactures 
(ready  made  clothing,  hosiery,  and  piece  goods),  leather  manu- 
factures (boots  and  shoes,  machine  belting,  trunks  and  bags), 
printing  paper. 

Transportation  Facilities:  In  the  north,  northwest,  and 
southwest,  the  great  river  system  furnishes  the  main  transporta- 
tion arteries;  18,500  miles  of  railways;  25,000  miles  of  Govern- 
ment owned  telegraph  lines  and  a large  number  of  privately 
owned  lines;  extensive  coast  and  river-going  steamship  service; 
steamship  lines  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  about  fifty  trans-atlantic 
lines  being  registered  at  one  or  more  of  the  Atlantic  ports;  an 
extensive  system  of  wireless  telegraph  stations,  the  one  at  Para 
having  a range  of  4,000  miles  and  being  able  to  communicate 
with  the  United  States. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit,  gold  milreis:  value  about  $.546. 
Ordinary  medium  of  exchange,  paper  milreis:  value,  about  $.324 
at  normal  exchange. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  obligatory. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1,  6;  Feb.  2,  24, 
27,  28;  Apr.  13,  14,  15,  17,  21;  May  3,  13,  25;  June  15,  24,  29; 
July  14;  Aug.  15;  Sept.  7,  8;  Oct.  12;  Nov.  1,  2,  15,  28;  Dec. 
8,  25. 

The  national  holidays  for  all  Brazil  are:  Jan.  1,  New  Year’s 
Day;  Feb.  24,  Promulgation  of  Constitution;  Apr.  21,  Tiradentes 
Day;  May  3,  Discovery  of  Brazil;  May  13,  Abolition  of  Slavery; 
July  4,  Anniversary  of  American  Independence;  July  14,  Liberty 
Day;  Sept.  7,  Independence  Day;  Oct.  12,  Discovery  of  America; 
Nov.  2,  Memorial  Day;  Nov.  15,  Proclamation  of  the  Republic; 
Nov.  19,  Flag  Day. 

The  other  holidays  are  Church  holidays,  which,  though  not 
legal  holidays,  are  generally  observed.  They  correspond  in  most 
cases  to  the  holidays  named  for  Argentina,  which  see. 

In  most  of  the  States,  there  are  local  holidays  commemorating 
notable  events  in  State  or  municipal  history. 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 

Rio  de  Janeiro  (capital) : Population,  1,150,000:  Important 
Newspapers,  Jornal  do  Commercio,  O Correio  da  Manha,  O 
Jornal  do  Brazil,  O Paiz,  O Imparcial,  A Razao,  A Rua,  A Noite: 
(weeklies)  Careta,  Fon  Fon,  O Malho,  O Tico  Tico:  (monthly) 
Eu  Sei  Tudo : Hotels,  Avenida,  Central,  Estranjeiros,  Palacio. 


Appendix 


363 


Sao  Paulo:  Population,  565,000:  Important  Newspapers, 
0 Correio  Paulistano,  0 Diario  Popular,  0 Estado  de  Sao  Paulo, 
0 Jornal  do  Commercio:  Fanfulla  (Italian):  Hotels,  Grande, 
Majestic,  Oeste. 

Bahia:  Population,  350,000:  Important  Newspapers,  O Im- 
parcial,  A Tarde,  O Jornal  de  Noticias:  Hotels,  Paris, 

Meridional,  Sul  Americano,  Pensao  Harbord. 

Para  (or  Belem):  Population,  280,000:  Important  News- 
papers, A Folha  do  Norte,  O Estado  do  Para,  O Imparcial: 
Hotels,  Paz,  America,  Universal,  Commercio,  Madrid. 

Recife  (or  Pernambuco):  Population,  250,000:  Important 
Newspapers,  O Diario  do  Pernambuco,  O Jornal  do  Recife,  A 
Provincia,  O Intransigente,  O Jornal  do  Commercio:  Hotels, 
Hotel  do  Parque,  Hotel  do  Recife,  Sul  Americano,  Hotel  de 
France,  Pension  von  Landy. 

Santos:  Population,  about  80,000:  Important  Newspapers,  A 
Nota,  O Diario  de  Santos,  A Tribuna:  Hotels,  Sportsman, 
Bristol,  Washington,  America. 

Chile 

Area,  289,796  square  miles'. 

Population,  3,754,723 

Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports  Total 

$166,103,810  $288,905,301  $455,009,111 


Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports  Total 

$51,198,793  $126,174,920  $177,373,713 

Principal  Exports:  Nitrate  of  soda,  copper,  wheat,  iodine, 
silver,  borate  of  lime,  beans,  wool,  frozen  meats,  barley. 

Principal  Imports:  Textiles,  iron  and  steel  manufactures,  oils, 
coal,  machinery,  hardware,  vehicles,  paper  and  manufactures. 

Transportation  Facilities:  over  5,000  miles  of  railways; 
22,500  miles  of  telegraph  lines;  steamship  lines  from  the  principal 
ports  to  all  parts  of  the  world;  8 wireless  telegraph  stations. 
Currency:  Monetary  unit,  gold  peso:  value,  about  $.365. 
Ordinary  medium  of  exchange,  paper  peso : equivalent  to  about 
$.2433  at  normal  exchange,  but  of  fluctuating  value. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  obligatory. 
Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1;  Apr.  14,  15; 
May  21,  25;  June  15,  29;  Aug.  15;  Sept.  18,  19;  Nov.  1;  Dec. 
8,  25. 


364 


Appendix 


May  21  is  Army  and  Navy  Day,  and  Sept.  18  and  19  are 
the  National  Independence  Days.  The  other  holidays  correspond 
for  the  most  part  to  those  of  Argentina,  which  see. 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  hanks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 

Santiago  (capital):  Population,  506,594:  Important  News- 
papers, El  Mercurio,  Las  Ultimas  Noticias,  La  Nacion,  El  Diario 
Ilustrado,  La  Union:  Ziz-Zag,  Sucesos  (illustrated  weeklies): 
La  Familia  (monthly) : Hotels,  Grand,  Oddo,  Savoy. 

Valparaiso:  Population,  183,001:  Important  Newspapers, 
El  Mercurio,  La  Union,  El  Industrial:  Los  Sucesos  (illustrated 
weekly)  : South  Pacific  Mail  (English  weekly) : Hotels,  Royal, 
Grand,  Colon,  Valparaiso,  Franeia,  Palace. 

Concepcion:  Population,  72,785:  Important  Newspapers, 
El  Sur,  La  Union,  El  Noticiero  de  la  Tarde:  Hotels,  Franco, 
Wachter,  Bolsa,  Cosmopolita. 

Antofagasta:  Population,  64,584:  Important  Newspapers, 
El  Mercurio,  El  Industrial,  El  Norte,  La  Nacion:  Hotels, 
Hotel  de  France  et  d’Angleterre,  Londres,  Oriental,  Belmont. 

Iquique:  Population,  46,941:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Tarapaca,  El  Nacional,  La  Patria:  Hotels,  Phoenix,  Sud 
America,  Oriental. 

Punta  Arenas:  Population,  34,000:  Important  Newspapers, 
El  Magallanes,  La  Union,  El  Comercio:  The  Magellan  Times 
(English  weekly). 


Colombia 

Area,  476,916  square  miles. 

Population,  6,300,000. 

Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports  Total 

$94,225,273  $70,371,746  $164,597,019 


Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$65,000,000  $60,000,000 


Total 

$125,000,000 


Principal  Exports  : Coffee,  platinum,  gold,  emeralds,  hides, 
bananas,  tagua  (ivory  nuts),  Panama  hats,  rubber,  tobacco. 

Principal  Imports  : Textiles,  foodstuffs  and  condiments, 

metals,  railway  supplies,  pharmaceutical  products,  paper,  school 
and  office  supplies,  agricultural  and  mining  implements,  ma- 
chinery. 

Transportation  Facilities:  777  miles  of  railways;  most  of 


Appendix 


365 


the  commerce  in  the  interior  is  carried  on  by  the  rivers  with 
the  railway  as  auxiliary;  steamship  connections  with  all  parts 
of  the  world;  over  12,000  miles  of  government  telegraph  lines; 
large  coastwise  and  river  trade;  3 wireless  telegraph  stations, 
and  an  international  station  at  Bogota  under  contract. 

Currency  : Monetary  unit,  gold  peso : value,  $.9733.  Much 
United  States  currency  is  in  circulation. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  obligatory. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1,  6;  Apr.  is,  14, 
15;  May  1,  25;  June  28,  29,  30;  July  24;  Aug.  6,  7;  Oct.  12; 
Nov.  1,  11 ; Dec.  8,  25,  29,  30,  31. 

July  24,  is  the  Birthday  of  Bolivar  (but  not  universally 
observed) ; Aug.  6,  Founding  of  Bogota  (at  Bogota  only) ; Aug.  7, 
Anniversary  of  the  Battle  of  Boyaca.  The  other  holidays  cor- 
respond in  general  to  those  of  Argentina,  which  see. 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix)  : 

Bogota  (capital):  Population,  143,994:  Important  News- 
papers, El  Espeetador,  El  Nuevo  Tiempo,  El  Diario  Oficial,  El 
Tiempo,  El  Grafico,  Cromos  (weeklies)  : Hotels,  Metropolitano, 
Atlantico,  Continental,  Iberico. 

Medellin:  Population,  80,000:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Correo  Liberal,  El  Espeetador:  Antioquia  (weekly);  Colombia 
(weekly)  : Hotels,  Europa,  Wilson,  America,  Victoria. 

Barranquilla:  Population,  65,000:  Important  Newspapers, 
El  Dia,  El  Liberal,  La  Nacion:  Hotels,  Suiza,  Medellin,  San 
Carlos. 

Cartagena:  Population,  51,382:  Important  Newspapers,  La 
Bpoca,  El  Porvenir,  El  Diario  de  la  Costa:  Principal  Hotel, 
Hotel  Cartagena. 

Bucaramanga:  Population,  about  30,000:  Important  News- 
papers, El  Liberal,  El  Eco  de  Santander:  Principal  Hotel, 
Hotel  Colon. 

Cali:  Population,  28,000:  Important  Newspaper,  Relator. 

Costa  Rica 

Area,  23,000  square  miles. 

Population,  463,727. 

Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$22,369,997  $14,933,551 

Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$11,657,757  $10,615,020 


Total 

$37,303,548 


Total 

$22,272,777 


366 


Appendix 


Principal  Exports:  Bananas,  coffee,  gold  and  silver,  woods 
hides  and  skins,  rubber,  cacao. 

Principal  Imports:  Flour,  cotton  fabrics,  rice,  electrical  ma- 
terials, railway  material,  pharmaceutical  products,  lard,  coal. 

Transportation  Facilities:  430  miles  of  railways;  steamship 
lines  connecting  with  Limon  for  the  United  States  and  Europe 
and  on  the  Pacific  side  at  Puntarenas  for  the  United  States, 
Panama,  and  the  south;  over  1,500  miles  of  telegraph  lines; 
wireless  telegraph  stations  at  Limon  and  Colorado. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit,  gold  colon:  value  about  $.465. 

United  States  currency  passes  at  par. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  has  been  established 
by  law,  but  the  following  weights  and  measures  are  still  used 
at  times:  libra—  1.043  pounds:  manzana  — ls/s  acres:  centaro  — 
4.2631  gallons : fanega  = 11  bushels. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922) : Jan.  1;  March  19;  Apr. 
11,  13,  14,  15;  May  1;  June  15,  29;  July  14,  24;  Aug.  15; 
Sept.  15;  Oct.  12;  Nov.  1,  11;  Dec.  8,  25,  29,  30,  31. 

March  19  is  San  Jose  (St.  Joseph)  Day;  Apr.  11,  Battle  of 
Rivas;  May  1,  Surrender  of  General  Walker;  July  14,  Fall  of 
the  Bastille;  July  24,  Birthday  of  Bolivar;  Sept.  15,  Anniversary 
of  Independence;  Dec.  29,  30,  31,  Bank  Holidays.  The  other 
holidays  correspond  to  those  of  Argentina,  which  see. 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 

San  Jose  (capital):  Population,  50,765:  Important  News- 
papers, La  Information,  La  Prensa,  El  Diario  de  Costa  Rica, 
La  Tribuna,  El  Imparcial:  Principal  Hotel,  Washington. 

Limon:  Population,  13,178:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Tiempo:  El  Pais  (weekly):  Principal  Hotel,  Lodge. 

Cuba 

Area,  44,164  square  miles. 

Population,  2,900,000. 

Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports  Total 

$524,471,279  $782,551,749  $1,307,023,028 

Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports  Total 

$321,627,449  $642,148,034  $963,775,483 

Principal  Exports:  Sugar,  tobacco,  minerals  (iron,  gold,  cop- 
per, and  asphalt),  timber,  fruits,  hides  and  skins. 


Appendix 


367 


Principal  Imports  : Foodstuffs,  textiles,  machinery,  metals  and 
manufactures,  chemicals  and  drugs,  animal  products,  wood  and 
manufactures. 

Transportation  Facilities:  over  2,400  miles  of  railways,  not 
including  800  miles  of  private  lines  on  the  plantations;  steamship 
lines  to  the  United  States  and  the  principal  countries  of  Europe; 
652  post  and  telegraph  offices;  telephone  service  in  114  cities 
and  towns. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit,  gold  peso:  value  $1.00.  Money  of 
the  United  States  is  legal  tender. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  is  in  general  use.  Other 
weights  and  measures  commonly  used  are:  arroba  (dry)  =25.366 
pounds;  arroba  (liquid)  =4.263  gallons;  libra  = 1.0161  pounds; 
fanega  — 1.599  bushels;  vara  = 33.384  inches. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922) : Jan.  1;  Feb.  24;  May  20; 
Oct.  10;  Dec.  7,  25. 

Feb.  24  commemorates  the  Revolution  of  Baire ; May  20,  Inde- 
pendence Day;  Oct.  10,  Revolution  of  Yara;  Dee.  7,  Death  of 
Maceo. 

Due  days  precede  Sunday  and  legal  holidays. 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 

Havana  (Habana),  the  capital:  Population,  400,000:  Im- 
portant Newspapers,  La  Prensa,  Diario  de  la  Marina,  Cuba, 
El  Mundo,  El  Heraldo  de  Cuba,  La  Discusion,  La  Lucha,  La 
Noche:  The  Havana  Post,  The  Havana  Telegram  \ English ) : 
(weeklies)  Politica  Comica,  Bohemia,  Confetti,  El  Figaro: 
(monthlies)  Social,  Carteles,  Cuba  Ilustrada,  Times  of  Cuba 
(English) : Hotels,  Sevilla,  Plaza,  Inglaterra,  Florida,  Pasaje, 
Miramar,  Almendares. 

Santiago:  Population,  46,000:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Combate,  El  Cubano  Libre,  La  Prensa,  El  Diario  de  Cuba,  La 
Independence,  El  Liberal,  El  Nacional,  El  Derecho,  La  Re- 
publica:  Principal  Hotel,  Casa  Grand. 

Matanzas:  Population,  37,000:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Correo  de  Mantanzas,  El  Dia,  El  Imparcial,  El  Latigo,  El  Repub- 
licano  Conservador:  Principal  Hotel,  Hotel  Paris. 

Cienfuegos:  Population,  32,000 : Important  Newspapers,  El 
Comercio,  La  Correspondence,  El  Republicano:  Principal 

Hotel,  Gran  Union 

Camagiiey:  Population,  31,000:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Popular,  El  Nacional,  El  Imparcial,  El  Camagiieyano : Hotels, 
Hotel  Camagiiey,  Hotel  Plaza. 

Dominican  Republic  (Santo  Domingo) 

Area,  19,325  square  miles. 

Population,  800,000. 

Language,  Spanish. 


368 


Appendix 


Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 


Imports 

$46,525,876 


Exports 

$58,731,241 


Total 

$105,257,117 


Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 


Imports 

$38,848,791 


Exports 

$51,113,990 


Total 

$89,962,781 


Principal,  Exports  : Sugar,  cacao,  tobacco,  honey,  coffee,  bees- 
wax, molasses,  goatskins,  hides,  cotton,  woods. 

Principal  Imports:  Cotton  manufactures,  rice,  machinery  and 
apparatus,  iron  and  steel,  foodstuffs  (excepting  rice  and  wheat 
flour),  vegetable  fibers  and  manufactures,  hides  and  skins  and 
manufactures,  mineral  oils,  wheat  flour. 

Transportation  Facilities:  375  miles  of  railways;  steamship 
lines  to  the  principal  ports  of  the  United  States  and  Europe; 
regular  service  to  Porto  Rico  and  Cuba;  over  350  miles  of 
telegraph;  1,175  miles  of  telephone  lines;  wireless  telegraph  sta- 
tions at  Santo  Domingo,  La  Romana,  and  San  Pedro  de  Macons. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit,  gold  dollar:  value,  $1.00.  The  peso 
is  one-fifth  of  the  gold  dollar.  United  States  money  circulates 
freely  at  its  face  value. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  prevails. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1,  6,  21;  Feb.  27; 
Apr.  13,  14,  15;  June  15,  29;  July  6 or  7;  Aug.  16;  Sept.  24; 
Oct.  12;  Dec.  25. 

Feb.  27  commemorates  the  Founding  of  the  Republic;  July 
6 or  7,  Memorial  Day;  Aug.  16,  War  for  Independence.  The 
other  holidays  are  those  common  to  Latin  America.  See  under 
“Argentina.” 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 

Santo  Domingo  (capital):  Population,  31,540:  Important 
Newspapers,  Las  Noticias,  El  Listin  Diario:  El  Renacimiento, 
Pica  Pica,  Letras,  La  Epoca  (weeklies) : Principal  Hotel, 

Francis. 

Santiago:  Population,  66,891:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Diario,  La  Informacion : Hotels,  Garibaldi,  Frances,  Santiago. 

La  Vega:  Population,  59,324:  Important  Newspapers,  El< 
Dia,  El  Progreso:  Hotels,  Frances,  Union,  Mocano. 


Ecuador 


Area,  116,000  square  miles'. 
Population,  2,000,000  (estimated). 
Language,  Spanish. 


Appendix 


369 


Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 


Imports 

$21,035,974 


Exports 

$24,181,129 


Total 

$45,217,103 


Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 


Imports 

$13,500,000 


Exports 

$15,250,000 


Total 

$28,750,000 


Principal  Exports:  Cacao,  ivory  nuts,  Panama  hats,  rubber, 
coffee,  hides,  gold  ore,  and  gold  in  bars  and  dust. 

Principal  Imports:  Textiles  of  cotton  and  wool,  foodstuffs, 
hardware,  ready-made  clothing,  machinery,  drugs  and  medicines. 

Transportation  Facilities  : 400  miles  of  railway  lines ; steam- 
ship lines  to  the  United  States  and  Europe  via  the  Panama  Canal: 
5,384  miles  of  telegraph  lines;  telephone  service  in  the  larger 
cities;  4 wireless  telegraph  stations  at  Quito,  Guayaquil,  on  the 
coast  north  of  Guayaquil,  and  on  the  Galapagos  Islands;  20  pas- 
senger steamers  ply  on  the  Guayas  River,  and  between  Guayaquil 
and  the  coast  towns;  the  Amazon  River,  called  in  Ecuador  the 
Maranon,  is  navigable  practically  over  its  whole  length,  and 
consequently  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Ecuadorian  Andes  may  be 
reached  by  way  of  Brazil  and  the  Amazon. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit,  the  gold  sucre:  value,  about  $.487. 

Weights'  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  obligatory. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1;  Apr.  13,  14; 
May  24;  Aug.  10;  Sept.  18;  Oct.  9,  12;  Dec.  25. 

May  24  is  a National  Holiday  (Battle  of  Pichincha) ; Aug.  10, 
National  Holiday  (Independence  of  Quito) ; Sept.  18,  National 
Holiday  (Separation  from  Chile) ; Oct.  9,  National  Holiday 
(Independence  of  Guayaquil).  The  other  holidays  are  those 
common  to  Latin  America.  See  under  “Argentina.” 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 

Quito  (capital):  Population,  90,000:  Important  News- 

papers, El  Comercio,  El  Dia,  El  Ecuatoriano:  Juan  Verdades 
(weekly)  : Hotels,  Gran  Hotel  Continental,  Royal  Hotel,  Hotel 
Ecuador,  Hotel  Metropolitano. 

Guayaquil:  Population,  100,000:  Important  Newspapers, 

El  Diario  Ilustrado,  El  Ecuatoriano,  El  Grito  del  Pueblo,  El 
Guante,  El  Telegrafo:  El  Comercio  Ecuatoriano  (monthly):  El 
Guia  Comercial  (weekly)  : Hotels,  Gran  Hotel  Paris,  Victoria, 
Hotel  Guayaquil,  Wellington  House. 


Guatemala 


Area,  48,290  square  miles. 
Population,  2,119,165. 
Language,  Spanish. 


370 


Appendix 


Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 


Imports 

$18,344,463 


Exports 

$18,102,906 


Total 

$36,447,369 


Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 


Imports 

$11,740,456 


Exports 

$14,500,000 


Total 

$26,240,456 


Principal  Exports':  Coffee,  bananas,  sugar,  chicle,  woods, 
cattle  hides,  rubber,  skins. 

Principal  Imports:  Cotton  textiles  and  manufactures,  iron 
and  steel  manufactures,  food  products,  wheat  flour,  wines  and 
liquors,  silk  textiles  and  manufactures,  wood  textiles  and  manu- 
factures, railway  material,  agricultural  and  industrial  machinery. 

Transportation  Facilities:  600  miles  of  railways;  steamship 
connections  on  the  Atlantic  side  with  the  United  States  and 
Europe,  and  on  the  Pacific  with  the  United  States,  other  parts 
of  Central  America,  and  Panama;  4,351  miles  of  telegraph  lines; 
533  miles  of  telephone  lines. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit,  silver  peso,  of  fluctuating  value, 
according  to  the  rise  and  fall  in  the  value  of  silver:  recent  value, 
between  $.36  and  $.421. 

Ordinary  medium  of  exchange,  paper  peso,  inconvertible  and 
fluctuating,  or  United  States  gold  and  currency:  in  1918  the 
exchange  rate  was  about  38  paper  pesos  to  $1.00. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  in  general  use. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1,  6;  March  19; 
Apr.  13,  14, 15;  May  25;  June  15,  29;  July  4;  Aug.  15;  Sept.  15; 
Oct.  12;  Nov.  1;  Dec.  8,  25. 

July  4 is  celebrated  in  honor  of  the  Anniversary  of  American 
Independence;  Sept.  15,  Independence  Day.  The  other  holidays 
correspond  in  general  to  those  common  in  the  rest  of  Latin 
America.  See  under  “Argentina.” 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 

Guatemala  City  (capital):  Population,  125,000:  Important 
Newspapers,  El  Diario  de  Centro-America,  La  Tribuna,  La  Re- 
publica,  El  Nacional,  La  Actualidad:  El  Guatemalteco  (weekly)  : 
Hotels,  Continental,  Gran,  Imperial,  Central. 

Quezaltenango : Population,  35,000 : Important  Newspapers, 
El  Bien  Publico,  El  Comercio,  El  Pais:  Hotels,  Paris,  Union, 
Centro-Americano. 


Haiti 


Area,  10,200  square  miles. 
Population,  2,000,000. 
Language,  French. 


Appendix 


371 


Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 


Imports 

$27,398,411 


Exports 

$18,990,032 


Total 

$46,388,443 


Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 


Imports 

$22,773,762 


Exports 

$9,903,881 


Total 

$32,677,643 


Principal  Exports:  Coffee,  logwood,  hides  and  skins,  cacao, 
lignum-vitae,  cotton,  orange  peel,  guaiac  wood. 

Principal  Imports  : Cotton  textiles,  flour,  lard,  hardware,  sew- 
ing machines,  railway  material. 

Transportation  Facilities:  150  miles  of  railways;  principal 
means  of  transportation  from  one  part  of  the  Republic  to  the 
other  is  by  water;  124  miles  of  telegraph  lines. 

Currency  : Monetary  unit,  the  gold  gourde ; value,  about  $.965. 
This  is  a theoretical  coin,  for  no  gold  coins  have  been  minted. 

Ordinary  medium  of  exchange,  the  paper  gourde,  which  fluc- 
tuates, and  has  of  recent  years  been  worth  about  one-sixth  of 
its  face  value. 

United  States  currency  also  circulates. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  in  general  use. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1;  Feb.  28;  Apr. 
13,  14;  May  1,  18,  25;  June  15;  Aug.  15;  Nov.  1,  2;  Dec.  25. 

Jan.  1 is  New  Year’s  Day  and  Independence  Day;  May  1, 
Agriculture  Day  (Labor  Day) ; Nov.  2,  All  Souls’  Day.  The 
other  holidays  are  those  common  to  Latin  America.  See  under 
“Argentina.” 

Principal  City  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix)  : 

Port  au  Prince  (capital):  Population,  101,133:  Important 
Newspapers,  Le  Matin,  Le  Courrier  du  Soir,  Le  Nouvelliste: 
Hotels,  American,  Bellevue,  France,  Montagne. 


Honduras 


Area,  46,250  square  miles. 
Population,  650,000. 
Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 


Imports 

$12,860,762 


Exports 

$6,944,725 


Total 

$19,805,487 


Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 


Imports 

$11,246,758 


Exports 

$6,665,675 


Total 

$17,912,433 


372 


Appendix 


Principal  Exports:  Bananas,  gold  and  silver  cyanides,  coco- 
nuts, cattle,  hides,  coffee,  rubber,  mahogany. 

Principal  Imports:  Cotton  textiles,  foodstuffs,  pharmaceutical 
products,  boots  and  shoes,  machinery  and  implements,  iron  and 
steel  manufactures. 

Transportation  Facilities  : 375  miles  of  railways ; steamship 
service  on  the  Atlantic  coast  to  the  United  States  and  the  prin- 
cipal European  countries,  and  on  the  Pacific  coast  to  the  United 
States,  other  Central  American  ports,  and  South  America;  4,519 
miles  of  telegraph  lines;  over  550  miles  of  telephone  lines. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit,  silver  peso,  which  fluctuates  with 
the  rise  and  fall  of  silver.  In  recent  years  it  has  been  worth 
something  more  than  $.40. 

Ordinary  medium  of  exchange,  paper  bank-notes,  fluctuating 
in  value  between  $.35  and  $.40.  United  States  currency  circulates 
freely. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  in  general  use. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1,  19;  Apr.  13, 
14,  15;  July  14;  Sept.  15;  Oct.  12;  Dec.  25. 

July  14  commemorates  the  Fall  of  the  Bastille;  Sept.  15,  In- 
dependence Day.  The  other  holidays  are  those  common  to  Latin 
America.  See  under  “Argentina.” 

Principal  City  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 

Tegucigalpa  (capital) : Population,  40,000:  Important  News- 
papers, El  Nuevo  Tiempo,  El  Cronista,  La  Patria,  El  Progreso: 
El  Renacimiento  (weekly):  Hotels,  Agurcia,  Jockey  Club,  New 
York,  Progreso. 


Mexico 

Area,  767,168  square  miles. 

Population,  17,000,000. 

Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$178,396,392  $213,000,000 

Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920): 
Imports  Exports 

$133,435,163  $195,000,000 


Total 

$391,396,392 


Total 

$328,435,163 


Principal  Exports:  Mineral, — oil,  silver,  copper,  lead,  an- 
timony, zinc,  and  gold : vegetable, — henequen,  coffee,  rubber 
(including  guayule),  chicle,  frijoles,  chick  peas  (garbanzos), 
ixtle,  cabinet  woods,  zaceton  root,  tobacco,  vanilla,  cottonseed,  and 
sugar : animal, — cattle,  hides,  skins,  and  tallow. 


Appendix 


373 


Principal  Imports:  Machinery,  tools,  hardware,  automobiles, 
cars,  textiles  and  clothing,  cotton,  lumber,  coal,  vegetable  oils, 
coke,  liquors,  grains,  drugs,  and  furniture. 

Transportation  Facilities:  16,000  miles  of  railways;  steam- 
ship lines  to  all  parts  of  the  world;  51,543  miles  of  telegraph; 
telephone  service  in  the  larger  cities;  18  wireless  telegraph  sta- 
tions; parcel  post  and  postal  money  order  service  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico. 

Currency:  Theoretical  monetary  unit,  gold  peso:  value,  about 
$.998.  Ordinary  medium  of  exchange,  silver  peso:  value,  $.4985. 
Paper  currency  issued  by  the  various  governments  fluctuates 
violently. 

United  States  currency  circulates  to  a large  extent. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  in  general  use. 

Other  weights  and  measures  are : libra  = 1.01465  pounds ; 
vara  = 33  inches;  barril—  20.0787  gallons;  carga=  300  pounds; 
fanega  = 1.54728  bushels ; frasco  — 2.5  quarts. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1,  6;  Feb.  5; 
March  19;  Apr.  13,  14;  May  5,  25;  June  15,  29;  Aug.  15; 
Sept.  16;  Oct.  12;  Nov.  1,  2;  Dec.  8,  12,  25. 

Feb.  5 is  the  Anniversary  of  the  Constitution;  March  19,  the 
day  of  San  Jose  (St.  Joseph) ; May  5,  Triumph  of  1862;  Sept.  16, 
Anniversary  of  Independence;  Dec.  12,  Our  Lady  of  Guadalupe. 
There  are  also  many  local  holidays  observed  in  certain  States 
or  cities. 

Due  days  precede  Sunday  or  legal  holidays. 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix)  : 

Mexico  City  (capital):  Population,  800,000:  Important 

Newspapers,  El  Democrata,  El  Universal,  Excelsior,  El  Diario 
Comercial,  El  Liberal,  La  Vanguardia,  El  Mundo,  El  Tiempo, 
El  Heraldo  de  Mexico,  Las  Notieias,  El  Pueblo:  El  Mercurio, 
La  Revista  de  Revistas,  El  Boletin  de  Industrias,  El  Universal 
Uustrado  (weeklies)  : The  Weekly  News  Bulletin  (English) : 
Hotels,  Iturbide,  Isabel,  Lascurain,  St.  Frances,  Alameda,  Regis, 
Porter. 

Guadalajara:  Population,  130,000:  : Important  News- 

papers, El  Informador,  La  Prensa,  La  Restauracion,  La  Bpoca, 
El  Combate,  El  Derecho:  Hotels,  Fenix,  Frances,  Roma,  Garcia, 
Cosmpolita. 

Puebla:  Population,  125,000:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Monitor,  El  Sol,  La  Cronica,  Gil  Bias,  La  Prensa,  El  Diario, 
El  Progreso:  Hotels,  Espanol,  American,  Barcelona,  Pasaje, 
Francia,  Ingles. 

Monterey:  Population,  85,000:  Important  Newspapers,  La 
Yerdad,  El  Liberal,  La  Tribuna,  El  Diario,  El  Noticiero,  El 
Porvenir,  El  Progreso,  La  Nueva  Patria : Hotels,  Iturbide,  In- 
dependence, Continental,  Aurora,  Gulf,  Monterey,  Windsor. 


374  Appendix 

San  Luis  Potosi : Population,  85,000 : Important  Newspapers, 
La  Action,  El  Pieudo,  La  Razon,  La  Juventud  (weekly) : 
Hotels,  Progreso,  Comereio,  Internacional,  Jardin. 

Vera  Cruz:  Population,  about  50,000:  Important  News- 
papers, El  Dictamen,  La  Opinion,  El  Heraldo,  El  Combate,  El 
Popular:  Hotels,  Universal,  Buena  Vista,  Mexico,  Diligencia, 
Colon. 

Chihuahua:  Population,  about  40,000:  Important  News- 
papers, El  Correo  del  Norte,  El  Diario  del  Norte,  El  Mensajero, 
El  Independiente,  El  Heraldo:  Hotels,  Francia,  Vidal,  Colon, 
Palacio. 

Nicaragua 

Area,  49,200  square  miles. 

Population,  600,000. 

Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$13,864,389  $10,787,345 

Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$11,247,589  $9,294,809 

Principal  Exports:  Coffee,  rubber,  gold  and  silver,  hides, 
bananas,  woods,  cacao,  sugar. 

Principal  Imports:  Textiles,  flour,  machinery,  kerosene, 

leather,  boots  and  shoes,  mining  materials,  rice. 

Transportation  Facilities  : 200  miles  of  railways ; steamship 
lines  connecting  with  the  United  States,  Europe,  the  rest  of 
Central  America,  and  South  America;  3,637  miles  of  telegraph 
lines ; about  1,000  miles  of  telephone  lines ; a considerable  amount 
of  river  steamship  service  on  the  San  Juan  and  the  Coco  or 
Segovia,  and  on  Lake  Nicaragua  and  Lake  Managua;  a wireless 
telegraph  station  at  Bluefields,  and  5 others  contracted. 

Currency : Monetary  unit,  the  gold  cordoba:  value,  $1.00. 

Paper  currency,  issued  by  the  National  Bank;  circulates  at  a 
heavy  discount. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  in  general  use. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922)  : Jan.  1;  March  1;  April 
13,  14,  15;  July  4;  Sept.  14,  15;  Oct.  12;  Nov.  30;  Dec.  25. 

July  4 is  celebrated  as  the  Anniversary  of  American  Inde- 
pendence; Sept.  15,  as  the  Anniversary  of  the  Independence  of 
Central  America.  The  other  holidays  are  those  common  to  Latin 
America.  See  under  “Argentina.” 


Total 

$24,651,734 


Total 

$20,542,398 


CENTRAL  AMERICA 


Submarine  Cables 

Railroads  

Size  of  type  indicates  relative 
importance  of  places 


Appendix 


375 


Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 

Managua  (capital):  Population,  60,342:  Important  News- 
papers, La  Gaceta,  El  Heraldo,  El  Comercio,  La  Tarde,  El  Diario 
de  Nicaragua,  La  Republica,  La  Tribuna:  Hotels,  Gran,  Italia, 
America,  Estrella,  Lupone. 

Leon:  Population,  47,234:  Important  Newspapers,  El  Cen- 
tro-Americano,  El  Independiente,  El  Eco  Nacional:  Hotels, 

Metropolitan,  Lupone,  Roma. 

Granada:  Population,  21,925:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Diario  Nicaraguense,  El  Correo:  Hotels,  Colon,  Ascarate,  Los 
Leones. 


Panama 

Area,  33,667  square  miles. 

Population,  401,428. 

Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$17,161,168  $3,552,271 

Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 
Imports  Exports 

$12,995,409  $3,210,615 


Total 

$20,713,439 


Total 

$16,206,024 


Principal  Exports  : Bananas,  coconuts,  hides  and  skins, 

balata  and  rubber,  tagua  (ivory  nuts),  cacao,  mother-of-pearl, 
tortoise  shell,  nispero,  (medlar  gum). 

Principal  Imports:  Wheat  flour,  iron  and  steel,  cotton  tex- 
tiles, mineral  oils,  rice,  edible  animal  products,  chemicals  and 
drugs,  boots  and  shoes,  rubber  manufactures,  ready-made  clothing. 

Transportation  Facilities:  250  miles  of  railways;  most  of 
the  railway  mileage  is  closely  associated  with  transportation  to 
the  Panama  Canal;  37  telegraph  offices;  telephone  system  from 
Colon  to  Santa  Isabel,  along  the  Atlantic  coast;  cable  service 
from  Panama  to  North  American  and  South  American  ports,  and 
from  Colon  to  the  United  States  and  Europe;  several  wireless 
telegraph  stations. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit  (theoretical),  the  gold  balboa: 

value,  $1.00.  No  gold  coins  have  as  yet  been  issued. 

The  silver  half -balboa,  or  peso,  is  in  common  use.  United 
States  currency  circulates  freely  at  its  nominal  value. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  in  general  use. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1;  Feb.  22,  28; 
Apr.  14;  May  30;  June  30;  July  4,  14;  Sept.  4;  Oct.  12;  Nov.  3, 
11,  28,  30;  Dec.  25. 


376 


Appendix 


May  30  is  Memorial  Day;  July  4,  American  Independence 
Day;  Sept.  4,  Labor  Day;  Nov.  3,  Separation  from  Colombia; 
Nov.  30,  Thanksgiving  Day.  The  other  holidays  are  those  common 
to  Latin  America.  See  under  “Argentina.” 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 
Panama  (capital):  Population,  65,000:  Important  News- 
papers, El  Diario  de  Panama,  The  Star  and  Herald  (in  English 
and  Spanish)  : El  Conservador  (weekly)  : Hotels,  Tivoli  (at 
Ancon),  International,  Metropole,  Central,  Continental,  Ameri- 
can, France,  Europa. 

Colon:  Population,  25,000:  Principal  Newspaper,  La  Es- 
trella de  Colon:  Hotels,  Washington,  Aspinwall,  Imperial,  Cos- 
mopolitan, Park. 

David : Population,  13,500 : Principal  Newspaper  , El 

Noticiero:  Principal  Hotel,  Santiago  Lombardi. 


Paraguay 

Area,  196,000  square  miles. 

Population,  1,000,000  (estimated). 
Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$12,724,949  $14,510,400 

Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$3,035,669  $1,351,453 


Total 

$27,235,349 


Total 

$4,387,122 


Principal  Exports:  Oranges,  yerba  mate  (Paraguay  tea), 
timber,  hides,  tobacco,  dried  beef,  quebracho  wood,  lace. 

Principal  Imports:  Textiles,  foodstuffs,  hardware,  fancy 

goods,  wines  and  spirits,  pharmaceutical  products,  ready-made 
clothing,  hats. 

Transportation  Facilities:  232  miles  of  railways':  most  of 
the  transportation  is  carried  on  by  the  admirable  river  system 
of  the  Paraguay  and  the  Parana;  2,000  miles  of  telegraph  lines. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit,  gold  peso:  value,  about  $.965,  the 
same  as  that  of  the  Argentine  gold  peso. 

Ordinary  medium  of  exchange,  the  paper  peso,  highly  depre- 
ciated and  worth  only  a small  fraction  of  its  face  value. 

Argentine  paper  money  circulates  extensively  in  Paraguay. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  obligatory. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1;  Feb.  3;  Apr. 
13,  14;  May  14,  15;  Aug.  15;  Oct.  12;  Nov.  1,  25;  Dec.  8,  25. 


Appendix 


377 


Feb.  3 is  San  Bias  Day;  May  14  and  15,  Independence  Days; 
Nov.  25,  Adoption  of  the  Constitution.  The  other  holidays  are 
those  common  to  Latin  America.  See  under  “Argentina.” 
Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 
Asuncion  (capital):  Population,  90,000:  Important  News- 
papers, El  Diario,  La  Tribuna,  El  Liberal,  El  Nacional,  La 
Manana:  Hotels,  Cosmos,  Hispano-Americano,  Italia,  Roma, 
Gran  Hotel  del  Paraguay. 

Villarrica:  Population,  40,000:  Hotels,  Central,  Espanol, 
Franco-Suizo. 


Peru 


Area,  533,916  square  miles. 
Population,  4,620,000. 
Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 


Imports  Exports 

$85,000,000  $155,000,000 

Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$56,000,000  $75,000,000 


Total 

$240,000,000 


Total 

$131,000,000 


Principal  Exports  : Minerals,  sugar,  cotton,  wool,  rubber, 
hides  and  skins. 

Principal  Imports:  Comestibles  and  condiments;  tools,  ships’ 
stores,  machines  and  vehicles;  cotton  textiles  and  manufactures; 
stones,  earths,  coal,  glass,  and  chinaware. 

Transportation  Facilities:  1,800  miles  of  railways,  with 
over  2,000  miles  under  construction  or  projected;  steamship  con- 
nections with  all  parts  of  the  world ; ocean-going  steamships  reach 
eastern  Peru  through  Brazil  via  the  Amazon;  busy  coastwise 
service;  steamship  navigation  on  Lake  Titicaca;  10,557  miles  of 
telegraph  lines;  11,000  miles  of  telephone  lines;  16  wireless 
telegraph  stations. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit,  the  gold  libra  (pound):  value, 
$4.8665,  or  the  same  as  the  pound  sterling.  The  libra  is  divided 
into  10  soles,  and  the  sol  has  100  centavos.  Peru  is  on  an  entirely 
gold  basis,  and  all  calculations  are  made  in  soles  or  libras  (ab- 
breviation for  the  libra  peruana,  or  Peruvian  pound,  is  “Lp.”). 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  obligatory. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1,  6;  Feb.  27,  28; 
March  19;  Apr.  13,  14;  May  25;  June  15,  29;  July  28,  29,  30; 
(Aug.  15,  30;  Sept.  24;  Oct.  12;  Nov.  1,  16;  Dec.  8,  25. 


378 


Appendix 


March  19  is  the  day  of  San  Jose  (St.  Joseph) ; July  28,  29,  30, 
National  Holidays  commemorating  Independence;  Aug.  30,  Samta 
Rosa  de  Lima;  Sept.  24,  Nuestra  Senora  de  las  Mercedes  (Our 
Lady  of  Ransom).  The  other  holidays  are  those  common  to 
Latin  America.  See  under  “Argentina.” 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 

Lima  (capital):  Population,  176,467:  Important  News- 
papers, El  Pci’u,  El  Comercio,  La  Prensa,  El  Tiempo,  La  Cronica, 
La  Nueva  Union:  West  Coast  Leader  (English  weekly):  Sud 
America,  El  Hogar,  Manana,  Excelsior,  Yariedades,  Mundial 
(weeklies) : Hotels,  Maury,  Franeia-Inglaterra,  Cardinal,  Ameri- 
cano, Gran,  Central. 

Arequipa:  Population,  55,000:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Pueblo,  El  Deber,  La  Federacion,  El  Heraldo:  La  Patria 

(weekly)  : Hotels,  Central,  Panama,  Royal,  Franeia-Inglaterra, 
Internacional,  Gran. 

Callao:  Population,  47,171:  Principal  Newspaper,  El  Callao: 
Hotels,  Bristol,  Internacional,  Peninsula,  Blanco,  Gran. 

Cuzco : Population,  15,000 : Important  Newspapers,  El  Sol, 
El  Nacional  El  Comercio:  Hotels,  Angel  Gasco,  Maury,  Pull- 
man, Central,  Europa. 

Iquitos:  Population,  about  20,000:  Important  Newspapers, 
El  Comercio,  El  Oriente,  La  Manana : Hotels,  Continental,  Loro, 
Bella  Vista,  Colon,  Pinion. 

Salvador 

Area,  13,176  square  miles. 

Population,  1,700,000. 

Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$18,000,000  $25,000,000 

Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports 

$13,200,000  $20,000,000 

Principal  Exports  : Coffee,  gold,  silver,  sugar,  indigo,  balsam, 
hides,  rubber,  tobacco,  rice. 

Principal  Imports  : Cotton  cloth  and  manufactures,  hardware, 
pharmaceutical  supplies,  flour,  boots  and  shoes,  cotton  yarn, 
machinery. 

Transportation  Facilities  : a railway  line  of  65  miles  between 
the  principal  port,  Acajutla,  and  the  capital,  San  Salvador;  a 
branch  line  of  25  miles  to  Santa  Ana;  a line  of  9 miles  from 


Total 

$43,000,000 


Total 

$33,200,000 


Appendix 


379 


San  Salvador  to  Santa  Teela;  the  line  from  Ateos  to  Santa  Ana 
is  now  in  operation;  connection  of  La  Union  with  ports  in 
Guatemala  is  now  under  construction  and  will  give  Salvador  an 
outlet  to  the  Atlantic  Coast;  steamship  service  to  other  Central 
American  ports  on  the  Pacific,  to  the  west  coast  of  the  United 
States,  Panama,  and  South  America;  2,521  miles  of  telegraph 
lines;  2,074  miles  of  telephone  lines. 

Currency  : Monetary  unit,  the  silver  peso , fluctuating  with  the 
rise  and  fall  of  silver:  present  value,  about  $.50. 

The  currency  used  is  convertible  into  silver  on  demand  and 
has  in  recent  years  had  an  exchange  value  of  about  $.365. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  in  general  use. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1;  Feb.  23,  24; 
March  1,  15;  June  22,  28;  July  14;  Aug.  5,  6;  Sept.  15;  Oct.  4, 
12;  Nov.  5;  Dec.  25. 

March  1 is  a Civic  Holiday;  March  15,  a National  Holiday 
commemorating  General  Morazan;  Sept.  15,  Independence  Day; 
Nov.  5,  Anniversary  commemorating  Generals  Delgado,  Arce,  and 
Rodriguez.  The  other  holidays  are  those  common  to  Latin 
America.  See  under  “Argentina.” 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 

San  Salvador  (capital):  Population,  80,000:  Important 

Newspapers,  El  Diario  del  Salvador,  La  Prensa,  El  Diario 
Latino,  La  Palabra:  El  Mundo  Ilustrado  (weekly):  Hotels, 
Italia,  Iberia,  Nuevo  Mundo,  Occidental,  Espana,  Paris. 

Santa  Ana:  Population,  59,817:  Principal  Newspaper,  El 
Diario  de  Occidente:  Hotels,  Oriental,  La  Florida,  Colombia. 

San  Miguel:  Population,  30,406:  Important  Newspapers, 
El  Diario  de  Occidente;  La  Noticia:  Principal  Hotel,  Hispano- 
Americano. 


Uruguay 

Area,  72,210  square  miles. 

Population,  1,650,000. 

Language,  Spanish. 

Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports  Total 

$50,091,508  $83,981,789  $134,073,297 


Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 

Imports  Exports  Total 

$15,290,135  $21,017,579  . $36,307,714 


Principal  Exports:  Wool,  hides  and  skins,  meats  and  extracts, 
grease  and  tallow,  live  animals,  oil-producing  grains,  and  flour. 


380 


Appendix 


Principal  Imports  : Groceries,  textiles,  iron  and  steel  and 
manufactures,  stone,  glass  and  chinaware,  woods  and  manufac- 
tures, beverages,  oils,  chemical  products,  and  tobacco. 

Transportation  Facilities:  Over  1,650  miles  of  railways; 
steamship  lines  to  the  principal  ports  of  the  United  States  and 
Europe ; transportation  by  water  is  highly  important  because  of  the 
admirable  distribution  of  the  river  system;  the  chief  inland  ports 
can  be  reached  by  vessels  of  nine  feet  draft,  and  in  some  instances, 
of  fourteen  feet  draft;  over  60  telegraph  and  telephone  stations; 
wireless  telegraph  station  at  Montevideo,  at  several  military  sta- 
tions, and  in  several  lighthouses. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit,  the  gold  peso:  value,  $1,034.  No 
gold  pieces  have  been  coined. 

Ordinary  medium  of  exchange,  silver,  banknotes  and  foreign 
gold  coins. 

Weights  and  Measures:  the  metric  system  is  obligatory. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1,  6;  Feb.  27,  28; 
April  19;  May  1,  2,  18,  25;  June  19;  July  4,  14,  18;  Aug.  25; 
Sept.  20;  Oct.  12;  Nov.  2;  Dec.  8,  25. 

Feb.  28  commemorates  the  Proclamation  of  Independence 
(1811);  April  19,  the  Landing  of  Uruguayan  Patriots  (1825); 
May  18,  the  Battle  of  Las  Piedras  (1811) ; May  25,  the  Inde- 
pendence of  the  River  Plate  Provinces  (1810) ; July  4,  American 
Independence  Day;  July  14,  Fall  of  the  Bastille;  July  18,  Con- 
stitution Day  (1830) ; Aug.  25,  Independence  of  Uruguay  (1825) ; 
Sept.  20,  Italian  Liberty  Day.  The  other  holidays  are  those 
common  to  Latin  America.  See  under  “Argentina.” 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix) : 

Montevideo  (capital):  Population,  400,000:  Important 

Newspapers,  El  Dia,  El  Plata,  La  Tribuna  Popular,  La  Razon, 
El  Siglo,  El  Telegrafo,  El  Bien  Publico,  La  Manana,  El  Diario 
Espahol,  El  Diario  Comercial,  La  Democracia:  The  Montevideo 
Times  (English):  El  Mundo  Uruguayo  (weekly):  La  Propa- 
ganda, El  Estanciero  (bi-weekly)  : Selecta  (monthly)  : Hotels, 
Grand,  Oriental,  Central,  Alhambra,  Piramides,  Colon,  Florida, 
Solis,  Espaha,  Balcarce,  Barcelona,  Campiotti,  Severi,  Bianchi, 
Carrasco. 

Paysandu:  Population,  32,000:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Diario,  La  Republiea,  El  Telegrafo : Principal  Hotel,  Concordia. 

Salto:  Population,  30,000:  Important  Newspapers,  Ecos 

del  Progreso,  La  Tarde,  El  Diario  Nuevo,  La  Tribuna  Saltena: 
Principal  Hotel,  Concordia. 

Venezuela 

Area,  393,976  square  miles. 

Population,  3,000,000. 

Language,  Spanish. 


Appendix 


381 


Foreign  Commerce  (1920) : 


Imports 

$59,589,129 


Exports 

$32,431,499 


Total 

$92,020,628 


Trade  with  the  United  States  (1920) : 


Imports 

$35,000,000 


Exports 

$16,500,000 


Total 

$51,500,000 


Principal  Exports:  Coffee,  cacao,  balata,  hides  and  skins, 
sugar,  gold,  tobacco,  asphalt,  cattle,  maize,  heron  plumes. 

Principal  Imports:  Cotton  textiles,  wheat  flour,  machinery, 
drugs  and  medicines,  papers,  rice,  oils. 

Transportation  Facilities  : 650  miles  of  railways ; steamship 
service  to  the  principal  ports  of  the  United  States  and  Europe; 
special  attention  is  paid  to  good  roads,  many  excellent  automobile 
highways  being  in  operation  and  others  under  construction;  70 
navigable  rivers,  with  a total  navigable  length  of  over  6,000 
miles;  regular  steamship  service  on  the  Orinoco,  Apure,  and 
Portuguesa  Rivers;  ocean-going  vessels  enter  Lake  Maracaibo, 
which  covers  an  area  of  8,000  square  miles;  Lake  Valencia  is 
navigated  by  small  steamers;  5,814  miles  of  telegraph  lines; 
13,715  miles  of  telephone  lines. 

Currency:  Monetary  unit,  the  gold  bolivar:  value,  $.193. 

The  so-called  peso  is  equivalent  to  4 bolivares,  and  the  fuerte, 
to  5 bolivares. 

Gold,  silver,  nickel,  and  copper  coins  and  bank-notes  are  in 
circulation. 

Bank  and  Public  Holidays  (1922):  Jan.  1,  6;  March  19; 
Apr.  13,  14,  19;  May  25;  June  15,  24,  29;  July  5;  Aug.  15; 
Nov.  1 ; Dec.  8,  19,  25. 

Apr.  19  commemorates  the  first  movement  for  Independence; 
June  24,  the  Battle  of  Carabobo;  July  5,  Independence  Day; 
Dec.  19  is  a National  Holiday.  The  other  holidays  are  those 
common  to  Latin  America.  See  under  “Argentina.” 

Principal  Cities  (for  list  of  banks,  see  end  of  appendix)  : 

Caracas  (capital):  Population,  92,212:  Important  News- 
papers, El  Universal,  El  Nuevo  Diaiio,  El  Diario,  El  Imparcial, 
El  Noticiero:  La  Patria,  La  Revista  (weeklies)  : Hotels,  Klindt, 
Gran,  Continental,  Alemania,  Universal,  Italia. 

Valencia:  Population,  64,861:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Eco  Publico,  El  Cronista,  El  Radical:  La  Lucha  (tri-weekly): 
Hotels,  Lourdes,  Olivares,  Ottolina. 

Maracaibo:  Population,  48,490:  Important  Newspapers,  El 
Fonografo,  La  Manana,  El  Panorama,  El  Avisador,  El  Liberal, 
Ecos  de  Zulia:  El  Comercio  (semi-weekly):  Hotels,  Bismarck, 
Colon,  Los  Andes,  Zulia. 


382 


Appendix 


Ciudad  Bolivar:  Population,  21,595:  Important  Newspapers, 
El  Luchador,  El  Diario  Comercial:  Hotels,  Bolivar,  Gran, 
Venezuela,  Central,  Union,  Manoni. 

Puerto  Cabello:  Population,  20,000 : Important  Newspapers, 
El  Boletin  de  Noticias,  El  Diario  de  Avisos,  El  Teson,  El  Es- 
tandarte:  Hotels,  Universal,  Banos,  Hotel  de  France. 


Appendix 


383 


POSTAL  INFORMATION 

Domestic  (United  States)  Postal  Rates  apply  to  Argentina, 
Bolivia,  Brazil,  Colombia,  Costa  Rica,  the  Dominican  Republic, 
Ecuador,  Honduras,  Nicaragua,  Mexico,  Cuba,  Panama,  Sal- 
vador, and  Peru. 

Postal  rates  to  the  other  Latin  American  republics  are  as 
follows:  First  Class. — Letters. — Postage  on  letters  is  five  (5) 
cents  for  the  first  ounce  or  fraction  thereof,  and  three  (3)  cents 
for  each  additional  ounce  or  fraction  thereof. 

Postal  cards. — The  postage  on  a single  card  bearing  a written 
communication  is  two  (2)  cents  for  each  ounce  or  fraction  thereof. 

Registration. — All  valuable  matter  should  be  registered. 
Registration  fee,  ten  (10)  cents  additional. 

Third  Class. — Includes  newspapers,  periodicals,  books,  pamph- 
lets, sheet  music,  cards,  proofs  of  printing,  etc. 

The  postage  is  one  (1)  cent  for  each  two  (2)  ounces  or 
fraction  thereof.  The  limit  of  weight  is  four  pounds  six  ounces 
(4  lbs.  6 oz.).  The  limit  of  size  is  eighteen  (18)  inches  in  one 
direction,  except  printed  matter  in  rolls  which  may  be  thirty 
(30)  inches  in  length  and  four  (4)  inches  in  diameter. 

Registration. — All  valuable  matter  should  be  registered.  The 
registration  fee  is  ten  (10)  cents  additional. 

Parcel-Post.  Merchandise  parcel-post. — Postage  is  twelve 
(12)  cents  for  each  pound  or  fraction  thereof.  Greatest  length, 
three  (3)  feet  six  (6)  inches.  Greatest  length  and  girth  com- 
bined, six  (6)  feet. 

Registration. — All  valuable  matter  should  be  registered.  Regis- 
tration fee,  ten  (10)  cents  additional. 

Except. — That  parcel-post  to  the  following  countries  cannot 
be  registered:  Argentina,  Uruguay,  and  Paraguay. 

Note. — Parcel-post  packages  may  be  sent  to  nearly  all  the 
Latin  American  countries,  but  in  some  cases,  not  to  all  cities  or 
towns  within  a particular  republic.  Specific  information  should 
be  obtained  at  United  States  postoffices. 

Mail  Time  to  Principal  Cities  of  South  America 

The  time  given  to  the  South  American  cities  mentioned  in  this 
table  is  the  sailing  or  transit  period.  Consideration,  however, 
should  be  given  to  the  possibility  of  10  or  15  days  intervening 
between  the  date  a letter  is  posted  and  the  actual  sailing  date 
of  steamer.  This  allowance  is  applicable  likewise  to  sailings  from 


384  Appendix 

South  America,  and  should  be  considered  when  calculating  the 
possible  time  to  elapse  before  a reply  may  be  expected  to  South 
American  mail. 


Mail  Time  to 


Reply  may 
be  expected 

Reply  may 
be  expected 

Days 

Argentina 

Colombia 

Buenos  Aires. . 

.26 

75 

Bogotd  .... 

...23 

65 

Rosario  

.28 

80 

Medellin  . . . 

...23 

65 

Bolivia 

Ecuador 

La  Paz 

.25 

75 

Quito  

..  .15 

55 

Sucre  

.25 

75 

Guayaquil  . . 

...  .15 

55 

Oruro  

.25 

75 

Paraguay 

Brazil 

Asuncidn  . . . 

..  .35 

100 

Rio  de  Janeiro 

.18 

65 

Peru 

Lima  

Callao  

Santos  

Bahia  

Pernambuco  .. 

.21 

.15 

.14 

65 

60 

55 

...18 

...17 

55 

55 

Porto  Alegre.. 

.25 

80 

Uruguay 

Sao  Paulo  

.20 

65 

Montevideo  . 

. ..25 

75 

Pard  

.16 

60 

Venezuela 

Chile 

Caracas  . . . . 

...12 

45 

Santiago  

.29 

75 

Maracaibo  . 

...14 

45 

Valparaiso  . . . 

.28 

75 

Punta  Arenas. . 

.40 

110 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  running  time  to  Rio  de  Janeiro 
has  been  shortened  to  about  12  days  by  an  American  line  and 
that  5 or  6 more  days  are  taken  to  reach  Buenos  Aires. 


120  Longitude  106“  West 


COMMUNICATIONS 

AND 

COMMERCIAL  LANGUAGES 

OF 

AMERICA 


g English 
Spanish 
French 

Portugese 


Appendix 


385 


DISTANCES  TO  SOME  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  PORTS 
AND  CITIES  OF  LATIN  AMERICA  FROM  NEW 
YORK,  NEW  ORLEANS,  AND  SAN  FRANCISCO. 

(Water  routes  in  nautical  miles:  land  routes  in  statute  miles. 
A nautical  mile,  or  knot,  is  equivalent  to  1.151  statute  miles.) 

FROM 

Port  and  Route  New  York  New  Orleans  San  Francisco 

Buenos  Aires 


direct  

. . 5,868 

6,318 

via  Strait  of  Magellan. 

7,544 

Callao,  Peru 

via  Panama  Canal.... 

. . 3,779 

3,264 

direct  

4,012 

Plabana  (Havana) 

direct  

. . 1,227 

597 

via  Panama  Canal.  . . . 

4,337 

Mexico  City 

by  land  

. . 2,898 

1,526 

2.512 

by  land  and  water.  . . 

. . 2,399 

1,172 

2,142 

Panama  (western  end  of 

Panama  Canal)  . . . . 

3,277 

via  Canal  and  Colon.. 

. . 2,028 

1,427 

Pernambuco,  Brazil 

direct  

. . 3,696 

3,969 

via  Panama  Canal.... 

6,530 

Punta  Arenas,  Chile.... 

. . 6,890 

7,340 

6,199 

Rio  de  Janeiro 

direct  

. . 4,778 

5,218 

via  Panama  Canal.... 

7,678 

Valparaiso,  Chile 

direct  

5,140 

via  Panama  Canal.... 

. . 4,637 

4,035 

(Note:  Buenos  Aires 

to  Valparaiso, 

by  rail, 

888  miles. 

386 


Appendix 


CREDIT  CONDITIONS 

SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION 

Reports  relative  to  Latin  American  houses  may  be  obtained 
from  practically  the  same  sources  as  those  in  the  United  States. 
They  are  as  follows:  (a)  American  banks  having  correspondents 
in  Latin  America;  (b)  foreign  or  American  houses,  whose  names 
are  given  as  reference,  or  noted  by  the  salesman;  (c)  mercantile 
agencies  (Bradstreet  Company  and  R.  G.  Dun  & Co.);  ( d ) 
foreign  banks  with  whom  Latin  Americans  have  filed  their 
references;  (e)  banks  or  financial  institutions  in  the  Latin  Ameri- 
can country  where  orders  originate;  (/)  home  office  of  American 
bank  with  branch  in  Latin  America;  ( g ) business  organizations 
such  as  the  Philadelphia  Commercial  Museum,  the  American 
Manufacturers’  Export  Association,  the  National  Association  of 
Manufacturers;  ( h ) exchange  service  conducted  by  the  National 
Association  of  Credit  Men,  and  other  bodies;  ( i ) express  com- 
panies with  foreign  departments;  (j)  foreign  trade  papers,  jour- 
nals, etc.  (From  Trading  with  Latin  America,  by  E.  B.  Filsinger: 
published  by  the  Irving  National  Bank,  New  York,  1917.) 


Appendix 


387 


BRANCHES  OF  AMERICAN  BANKS  AND  INSTITUTIONS 
AFFILIATED  WITH  AMERICAN  BANKS  IN  LATIN 
AMERICA 

Abbreviations:  N.  C.  B.,  National  City  Bank  of  New  York 

I.  B.  C.,  International  Banking  Corporation,  New 
York 

M.  B.  A.,  Mercantile  Bank  of  the  Americas,  New 
York 

F.  N.  B.,  First  National  Bank,  Boston,  Mass. 

A.  F.  B.  C.,  American  Foreign  Banking  Corpora- 
tion, New  York 

Aff.  Inst.,  Affiliated  institution  (the  name  of  the 
American  affiliated  bank  follows  this  abbrevia- 
tion ) . 


Argentina 

Buenos  Aires,  N.  C.  B.  and  F.  N.  B. 

Sub-branch 
Plaza  Once,  N.  C.  B. 

Rosario,  N.  C.  B. 

Bolivia 

La  Paz,  W.  R.  Grace  y Compania 

Brazil 

Bahia,  N.  C.  B. 

Para,  American  Bank  of  Brazil,  Aff.  Inst.,  M.  B.  A. 
Pernambuco,  American  Bank  of  Brazil,  Aff.  Inst.,  M.  B.  A., 
and  N.  C.  B. 

Porto  Alegre,  N.  C.  B. 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  N.  C.  B.  and  A.  F.  B.  C. 

Chile 

Santiago,  N.  C.  B. 

Valparaiso,  N.  C.  B. 

Colombia 

Barranquilla,  N.  C.  B. 

Bogota,  N.  C.  B. 

Cali,  A.  F.  B.  C. 

Medellin,  N.  C.  B. 

Also,  The  branches  of  the  Banco  Mercantil  Americano  de 


388 


Appendix 


Colombia,  affiliated  with  the  Mercantile  Bank  of  the 
Americas : located  at  Armenia,  Barranquilla,  Bogota, 
Bucaramanga,  Cali,  Cartagena,  Cucuta,  Girardot,  Honda, 
Manizales,  and  Medellin  (Colombia). 

Costa  Rica 

San  Jose,  Banco  Mercantil  de  Costa  Rica,  Aff.  Inst.,  M.  B.  A. 

Cuba 

Habana,  N.  C.  B.,  A.  F.  B.  C.,  Banco  Mercantil  Americano 
de  Cuba,  Aft.  Inst.,  M.  B.  A.,  and  Fidelity  and  Deposit 
Co.  of  Maryland. 

Sub-branch,  Cuatro  Caminos,  N.  C.  B. 

Sub-branch,  Galiano,  N.  C.  B. 

Ciego  de  Avila,  N.  C.  B.  and  Banco  Mercantil  Americano  de 
Cuba,  Aff.  Inst.,  M.  B.  A. 

Also,  in  Cuba,  the  branches  of  the  National  City  Bank  at 
Artemisa,  Bayamo,  Caibarien,  Camagiiey,  Cardenas,  Cien- 
fuegos,  Colon,  Cruces,  Guantanamo,  Manzanillo,  Matanzas, 
Nuevitas,  Pinar  del  Rio,  Placetas  del  Norte,  Remedios, 
Sagua  la  Grande,  Sancti  Spiritus,  Santa  Clara,  Santiago, 
Union  de  Reyes,  Yaguajay. 

Dominican  Republic 

At  Barahona,  Puerto  Plata,  Sanchez,  San  Pedro  de  Macons, 
Santiago  de  los  Caballeros,  Santo  Domingo:  branches  of 
the  International  Banking  Corporation. 


Haiti 

Port  au  Prince,  A.  F.  B.  C. 

Honduras 

San  Pedro  Sula,  A.  F.  B.  C. 

Also,  Banco  Atlantida,  affiliated  with  the  Mercantile  Bank 
of  the  Americas,  at  Amapala,  La  Ceiba,  Puerto  Cortes, 
San  Pedro  Sula,  Tela,  Tegucigalpa  (Honduras). 

Nicaragua  . 

At  Bluefields,  Leon,  Managua,  and  Granada : National  Bank 
of  Nicaragua,  affiliated  with  the  Mercantile  Bank  of  the 
Americas 

Panama 

Colon,  I.  B.  C. 

Cristobal,  A.  F.  B.  C. 

Panama,  1.  B.  C.  and  A.  F.  B.  C. 


Appendix 


389 


Peru 

Lima,  N.  C.  B.,  the  Banco  Mercantil  Americano  del  Peru,  Aff. 
Inst.,  M.  B.  A.,  and  W.  R.  Grace  and  Co. 

Also,  at  Arequipa,  Callao,  Chielayo,  Piura,  and  Trujillo, 
branches  of  the  Banco  Mercantil  Americano  del  Peru,  Aff. 
Inst.,  M.  B.  A. 

Uruguay 

Montevideo,  N.  C.  B. 

Sub-branch,  Calle  Rondeau,  N.  C.  B. 

Venezuela 

Ciudad  Bolivar,  N.  C.  B. 

Caracas,  N.  C.  B.  and  the  Banco  Mercantil  Americano  de  Cara- 
cas, Aff.  Inst.,  M.  B.  A. 

Maracaibo,  N.  C.  B. 

Also,  at  La  Guaira,  Maracaibo,  and  Puerto  Cabello,  branches 
of  the  Banco  Mercantil  Americano  de  Caracas,  affiliated 
with  the  Mercantile  Bank  of  the  Americas. 


390 


Appendix 


PRINCIPAL  BANKS 

(This  list  does  not  include  the  branches  of  United  States  banks  in 
Latin  America.  Par  United  States  banks,  see  the  preceding  list.  The 
countries  are  arranged  alphabetically,  and  the  cities  are  arranged  in 
the  order  used  in  the  first  part  of  the  Appendix,  thus  making  reference 
an  easy  matter.) 


Argentina 


Buenos  Aires 

Banco  de  la  Nacion  Argentina 
London  & River  Plate  Bank,  Limited 
British  Bank  of  South  America,  Limited 
London  & Brazilian  Bank,  Limited 
Banco  Anglo-Sud-Americano 
Banco  Aleman  Transatlantico 
Banco  Germanico  de  la  America  del  Sud 
Banco  de  la  Provincia  de  Buenos  Aires 
Banco  Credito  Popular 
Banco  Espanol  del  Rio  de  la  Plata 
Banco  Frances  e Italiano  para  America  del  Sud 
Banque  Franchise  pour  le  Commerce  et  l’lndustrie 
Banco  Popular  Argentino 
Royal  Bank  of  Canada 
Tornquist  y Compania 
Yokohama  Specie  Bank,  Limited 
Rosario 

Anglo-South  American  Bank,  Limited 
Banco  Aleman  Transatlantico 
Banco  de  la  Nacion  Argentina 
British  Bank  of  South  America,  Limited 
London  and  Brazilian  Bank,  Limited 
Banque  Franchise  et  Italienne  pour  l’Amerique  du  Sud 
Cordoba 

Banco  Aleman  Transatlantico 
Banco  de  la  Nacion  Argentina 
Banco  Espanol  del  Rio  de  la  Plata 
La  Plata 

Banco  de  la  Nacion  Argentina 
Banco  de  la  Provincia  de  Buenos  Aires 
Banco  Espanol  del  Rio  de  la  Plata 


Appendix 


391 


Tucuman 

Banco  de  la  Nacion  Argentina 
Banco  Espanol  del  Rio  de  la  Plata 
Banco  Aleman  Transatlantico 
Bahia  Blanca 

Anglo-South  American  Bank,  Limited 
Banco  Frances  del  Rio  de  la  Plata 
Banco  Espanol  del  Rio  de  la  Plata 
Banco  Alem&n  Transatlantico 

Bolivia 

La  Paz 

Banco  Nacional  de  Bolivia 
Banco  Francisco  Argandona 
Banco  Aleman  Transatlantico 
Banco  de  la  Nacion  Boliviana 
Banco  Mercantil 
Cochabamba 

Banco  de  la  Nacion  Boliviana 
Oruro 

Banco  Aleman  Transatlantico 
Banco  de  la  Nacion  Boliviana 
Anglo-South  American  Bank,  Limited 
Potosi 

Banco  de  la  Nacion  Boliviana 
S'ucre 

Banco  de  la  Nacion  Boliviana 

Brazil 


Rio  de  Janeiro 
Banco  do  Brazil 
Banco  Nacional  Brazileiro 
Brasilianische  Bank  fur  Deutschland 
London  & Brazilian  Bank,  Limited 
London  & River  Plate  Bank,  Limited 
British  Bank  of  South  America,  Limited 
Banco  Espanol  del  Rio  de  la  Plata 
Banco  Allemao  Transatlantico 
Banco  Commercial  do  Rio  de  Janeiro 
Banco  do  Commercio 
Banco  do  Estado  do  Rio  de  Janeiro 
Banco  Mercantil  do  Rio  de  Janeiro 
Banco  Nacional  Ultramarino 
Yokohama  Specie  Bank 


392 


Appendix 


Sao  Paulo 

British  Bank  of  South  America,  Limited 
London  and  Brazilian  Bank,  Limited 
Banco  Nacional  Ultramarino 

Banque  Frangaise  et  Italienne  pour  l’Amerique  du  Sud 
Banco  Aleman  Transatlantico 
Banque  Italo-Belge 
Bahia 

Banco  Nacional  Ultramarino 
British  Bank  of  South  America,  Limited 
London  and  Brazilian  Bank,  Limited 
Brasilianische  Bank  fur  Deutschland 
Para  (or  Belem) 

Banco  Nacional  Ultramarino 
London  and  Brazilian  Bank,  Limited 
Recife  (or  Pernambuco) 

Banco  do  Recife 

Banque  Frangaise  et  Italienne  pour  l’Amerique  du  Sud 
Santos 

London  and  Brazilian  Bank,  Limited 
Banco  Nacional  Ultramarino 

Banque  Frangaise  et  Italienne  pour  l’Amerique  du  Sud 

Banque  Italo-Belge 

Banco  Aleman  Transatlantico 


Chile 


Santiago 

Anglo-South  American  Bank,  Limited 
Banco  de  Chile 
Banco  de  Santiago 
Banco  Aleman  Transatlantico 
Banco  Nacional 
Banco  Comercial  de  Chile 
Banco  Espanol 
Valparaiso 

Banco  Anglo-Sud- Americano 
Edwards  y Compania 
London  & River  Plate  Bank 
Deutsch-Siidamerikanische  Bank 
Concepcion 

Anglo-South  American  Bank,  Limited 
Banco  Alem&n  Transatlantico 
Antofagasta 

Anglo-South  American  Bank,  Limited 
Banco  Aleman  Transatlantico 


Appendix 


393 


Iquique 

Anglo-South  American  Bank,  Limited 
Banco  Aleman  Transatlantic 
Punta  Arenas 

Anglo-South  American  Bank,  Limited 
Colombia 


Bogota 

Banco  de  Bogota 
Banco  de  Colombia 
Banco  del  Comercio 
Banco  Central 
C.  Schloss  y Cia 
Medellin 
Restrepos  y Cia 
Banco  Aleman-Antioqueno 
Banco  de  la  Mutualidad 
Banco  Dugand 

Commercial  Bank  of  Spanish  America,  Limited 
Banco  de  Sucre 

London  and  River  Plate  Bank,  Limited 
Barranquilla 
Banco  de  la  Mutualidad 
Banco  Dugand 

Banco  Comercial  de  Barranquilla 
Royal  Bank  of  Canada 

Commercial  Bank  of  Spanish  America,  Limited 
Banco  Aleman-Antioqueno 
Cartagena 

Banco  de  Bolivar 
Banco  Industrial 
Pombo  Hermanos 
Banco  Dugand 

Commercial  Bank  of  Spanish  America,  Limited 
Bucaramanga 

Banco  de  la  Mutualidad 
Banco  de  San  Gil 
Banco  de  Santander 
Banco  Dugand 


Costa  Rica 


San  Jos6 

Royal  Bank  of  Canada 
Banco  Anglo-Costarricense 
Banco  Comercial 
Banco  de  Costa  Rica 


394 


Appendix 


Lim6n 

Banco  Comercial  de  Costa  Rica 
Felipe  J.  Alvarado  y Cia 


Cuba 


Habana 

Banco  de  Cuba 
Banco  Nacional  de  Cuba 
Bank  of  Nova  Scotia 
La  Nacional 

The  Royal  Bank  of  Canada 
The  Trust  Co.  of  Cuba 
Banco  de  la  Habana 
Banco  Espanol  de  la  Isla  de  Cuba 
Mendoza  y Cia 
N.  Gelats  y Cia 
Santiago 

Banco  Espanol  de  la  Isla  de  Cuba 
Banco  Nacional  de  Cuba 
Royal  Bank  of  Canada 
Mantanzas 

Banco  Espanol  de  la  Isla  de  Cuba 
Banco  Nacional  de  Cuba 
Royal  Bank  of  Canada 
Cienfuegos 

Banco  Espanol  de  la  Isla  de  Cuba 
Banco  Nacional  de  Cuba 
Royal  Bank  of  Canada 
Camagiiey 

Banco  Espanol  de  la  Isla  de  Cuba 
Banco  Nacional  de  Cuba 
Royal  Bank  of  Canada 

Dominican  Republic 


S'anto  Domingo 

Banco  Nacional  de  Santo  Domingo 
Royal  Bank  of  Canada 
S.  Michelena 
Santiago 

Royal  Bank  of  Canada 


Ecuador 


Quito 

Commercial  Bank  of  Spanish  America,  Limited 
Banco  de  Pichincha 


Appendix 


395 


Guayaquil 

Banco  Comercial  y Agricola 
Banco  del  Ecuador 
Banco  Territorial 
Alvarado  y Bejarano 

Commercial  Bank  of  Spanish  America,  Limited 
J.  G.  White  Commercial  Co.,  Limited 

Guatemala 


Guatemala  City 

Banco  Americano  de  Guatemala 
Banco  de  Guatemala 
Banco  Internacional  de  Guatemala 
Commercial  Bank  of  Spanish  America,  Limited 
Quezaltenango 

Banco  de  Guatemala 

Banco  Internacional  de  Guatemala 

Haiti 


Port  au  Prince 
Banque  Nationale  d ’Haiti 
F.  Hermann  & Company 
Robert  Dutton  & Company 
Otto  Bieber  & Company 


Honduras 


Tegucigalpa 

Banco  de  Honduras 
Daniel  Fertin 
Ricardo  Streber 


Mexico 


Mexico  City 

Banco  de  Londres  y Mexico 
Banco  de  Montreal 
Banco  Nacional  de  Mexico 
United  States  and  Mexican  Trust  Company 
Banque  Frangaise  du  Mexique 
Canadian  Bank  of  Commerce 
Anglo-South  American  Bank 
Deutsch-Siidamerikanische  Bank 
Guadalajara 

Banco  Nacional  de  Mexico 


396 


Appendix 


Puebla 

Banco  Nacional  de  Mexico 
Monterey 

Banco  Nacional  de  Mexico 
Banque  Frangaise  du  Mexique 
Patricio  Milmo  e Hijos,  Sues. 
Banco  de  Nuevo  Leon 
San  Luis  Potosi 

Banco  Nacional  de  Mexico 
Banque  Frangaise  du  Mexique 
A.  Zambrano  e Hijos 
Vera  Cruz 

Banco  Nacional  de  Mexico 
Banque  Frangaise  du  Mexique 
Chihuahua 

Banco  de  Sonora 
Banco  Minero 
Banco  Nacional  de  Mexico 
David  S.  Russek  and  Co. 


Nicaragua 


Managua 

Commercial  Bank  of  Spanish  America,  Limited 
Francisco  Breckmann 
A.  J.  Martin 

Cortes  Commercial  and  Banking  Company,  Limited 
Banco  Nacional  de  Nicaragua 

Panama 


Panama 

Panama  Banking  Co. 

Ehrman  and  Co. 

Colon 

Panama  Banking  Co. 

Paraguay 

Asuncion 

Banco  Agricola 

Banco  Mercantil  del  Paraguay 
Banco  Paraguayo 
Banco  de  la  Republica 
Banco  de  Espana  y America 
Villarrica 

Banco  Mercantil  del  Paraguay 


Appendix 


397 


Peru 


Lima 

Banco  Mercantil  Americano  del  Peru 
Anglo-South  American  Bank,  Limited 
Banco  Aleman  Transatlantico 
Banco  del  Peru  y Londres 
Banco  Internacional  del  Peru 
Banco  Popular 
Caja  de  Ahorros 
Arequipa 

Banco  Aleman  Transatlantico 
Banco  del  Peru  y Londres 
Banco  Italiano  Americano 
Banco  Mercantil  del  Peru 
Callao 

Banco  Aleman  Transatlantico 
Banco  del  Peru  y Londres 
Banco  Italiano 

Banco  Mercantil  Americano  del  Peru 
Cuzco 

Banco  del  Peru  y Londres 
Iquitos 

Banco  del  Peru  y Londres 

Commercial  Bank  of  Spanish  America,  Limited 

Salvador 


San  Salvador 

Banco  Agricola  Comercial 
Banco  Occidental 
Banco  Salvadoreno 

Commercial  Bank  of  Spanish  America,  Limited 
Santa  Ana 

Banco  Salvadoreno 
San  Miguel 

Banco  Salvadoreno 
M.  Meardi  y Cia. 


Uruguay 


Montevideo 

Banco  de  la  Republica 
Banco  Popular  del  Uruguay 
Banco  Comercial 
Banco  Espanol 
Banco  Frances 


398 


Appendix 


Banco  Aleman  Transatlantic© 

Banco  Britanico  de  la  America  del  Sud 
Banco  Anglo-Sud- Americano 
Banco  de  Londres  y Rio  de  la  Plata 
London  & Brazilian  Bank,  Limited 
Anglo-South  American  Bank,  Limited 
Banque  Italo-Belge 


Venezuela 


Caracas 

Banco  de  Venezuela 
Banco  de  Caracas 
H.  L.  Boulton  y Cia. 

Banco  Mercantil  Americano  de  Caracas 
Commercial  Bank  of  Spanish  America,  Limited 
Hollandsche  Bank  voor  West  Indie 
Royal  Bank  of  Canada 
Maracaibo 

Royal  Bank  of  Canada 
Ciudad  Bolivar 
Royal  Bank  of  Canada 
Puerto  Cabello 

Royal  Bank  of  Canada 


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BRIEF  BIBLIOGRAPHY  OF  RECENT  BOOKS  ON  LATIN 

AMERICA 

Abbot,  W.  J.,  Panama  and  the  Canal.  New  York,  1914. 

Adams,  A.  A.,  The  Plateau  Peoples  of  South  America.  London, 
1915. 

Alvarez,  Alexandre,  Le  Droit  International  Americain.  Paris, 
1910. 

Aughinbaugh,  W.  E.,  Selling  Latin  America.  Boston,  1915. 
Aughinbaugh,  W.  E.,  Advertising  for  Trade  in  Latin  America. 
New  York,  1922. 

Babson,  R.  W.,  The  Future  of  South  America.  Boston,  1915. 
Barrett,  J.,  Pan  America  and  Pan  Americanism.  New  York, 
1915. 

Bennett,  F.,  Forty  Tears  in  Brazil.  London,  1914. 

Bigelow,  J.,  American  Policy.  The  western  hemisphere  in  rela- 
tion to  the  eastern.  New  York,  1914. 

Bingham,  H.,  Across  South  America.  New  York,  1911. 
Bingham,  H.,  The  Monroe  Doctrine,  An  Obsolete  Shibboleth. 

New  Haven:  Yale  University  Press,  1913. 

Bishop,  F.,  Panama,  Past  and  Present.  New  York,  1913. 
Blakeslee,  G.  H.  (editor),  Latin  America.  Clark  University 
addresses.  New  York,  1914. 

Bland,  J.  0.  P.,  Men,  Manners  and  Morals  in  South  America. 
London,  1920. 

Brandon,  E.  E.,  Latin  American  Universities  and  Special  Schools. 
Washington,  D.  C.,  1913. 

Bruce,  G.  J.,  Brazil  and  the  Brazilians.  New  York,  1914. 

Bryce,  J.,  South  America.  Observations  and  Impressions.  New 
York,  1913. 

Buley,  E.  C.,  North  Brazil.  New  York,  1914. 

Buley,  E.  C.,  South  Brazil.  London  and  New  York,  1914. 
Calder6n,  F.  Garcia,  Latin  America:  Its  Rise  and  Progress. 
London,  1913. 

Calvo,  J.  B.,  The  Republic  of  Costa  Rica.  Chicago,  1890. 
Carson,  W.  E.,  Mexico,  the  Wonderland  of  the  South  (revised 
edition).  New  York,  1914. 

Cl^menceau,  G.,  South  America  To-day.  New  York,  1911. 
Coolidge,  A.  C.,  The  Unitea  States  as  a World  Power.  New 
York,  1909. 


399 


400  Bibliography  of  Recent  Books 

Cooper,  C.  S.,  The  Brazilians  and  Their  Country.  New  York, 
1917. 

Cooper,  C.  S.,  Understanding  South  America.  New  York,  1918. 

Cosby,  J.  T.,  Latin  American  Monetary  Systems  and  Exchange 
Conditions.  New  York,  1915. 

Dalton,  L.  V.,  y enezuela.  New  York,  1912. 

Denis,  P.,  Brazil.  London.  First  edition,  1911 : third  impression, 
1919. 

Department  of  Commerce,  Washington,  D.  C.,  Banking  Oppor- 
tunities in  South  American  Countries.  1915. 

Domville-Fife,  C.  W.,  The  Great  States  of  South  America.  Lon- 
don, 1910. 

Domville-Fife,  C.  W.,  Guatemala  and  the  States  of  Central 
America.  London,  1913. 

Eder,  P.  J.,  Colombia.  New  York,  1913. 

Elliott,  G.  F.,  Chile.  New  York,  1907. 

Elliott,  L.  E.,  Brazil  To-day  and  To-morrow.  New  York,  1917. 

Enock,  C.  R.,  Ecuador.  New  York,  1914. 

Enock,  C.  R.,  Mexico.  New  York,  1909. 

Enock,  C.  R.,  Peru.  New  York,  1911. 

Enock,  C.  R.,  The  Republics  of  Central  and  South  America. 
London,  1913. 

Enock,  C.  R.,  Spanish  America.  Its  romance,  reality,  and  future. 
2 vol.  London,  1920. 

Filsinger,  E.  B.,  Trading  with  Latin  America.  New  York,  1917. 

Fyfe,  H.  H.,  The  Real  Mexico.  London,  1914. 

Hale,  A.,  The  South  Americans.  Indianapolis,  1907. 

Hirst,  W.  A.,  Argentina.  New  York,  1910. 

Hirst,  W.  A.,  A Guide  to  South  America.  New  York,  1915. 

Holland,  W.  J.,  To  the  River  Plate  and  Back.  The  narrative 
of  a scientific  mission  to  South  America.  New  York,  1913. 

Jones,  C.  L.,  Caribbean  Interests  of  the  United  States.  New 
York  and  London,  1916. 

Koebel,  W.  H.,  Central  America.  New  York,  1917. 

Koebel,  W.  H.,  Modern  Chile.  London,  1913. 

Koebel,  W.  H.,  Paraguay.  New  York,  1917. 

Koebel,  W.  H.,  The  South  Americans.  New  York,  1915. 

Koebel,  W.  H.,  Uruguay.  London,  1911. 

Koebel,  W.  H.  (editor),  Anglo-South  American  Handbook  for 
1921.  London. 

Larden,  W.,  Argentine  Plains  and  Andine  Glaciers.  London, 
1911. 

Latane,  J.  H.,  The  United  States  and  Latin  America.  Garden 
City,  N.  Y.,  1920. 

Levine,  V.,  Colombia.  New  York,  1914. 


Bibliography  of  Recent  Books 


401 


Lima,  Manoel  de  Oliveira,  The  Evolution  of  Brazil  Compared 
with  that  of  Spanish  and  Anglo-Saxon  America.  Leland 
Stanford  University  Publications.  1914. 

Lough,  W.  H.,  Financial  Developments  in  South  American  Coun- 
tries. W ashington,  1915. 

Macdonald,  A.  K.,  Picturesque  Paraguay.  London,  1911. 

MacHugh,  R.  J.,  Modern  Mexico.  London,  1914. 

Martin,  P.  F.,  Mexico  of  the  Twentieth  Century.  London,  1907. 

Martin,  P.  F.,  Salvador  of  the  Twentieth  Century.  London,  1911. 

Martinez,  A.  B.,  and  Lewandowski,  M.,  The  Argentine  in  the 
Twentieth  Century.  London,  1911. 

Martinez,  A.  B.,  Baedeker  of  the  Argentine  Republic.  New 
York  and  London,  1916. 

O’Malley,  F.,  Our  South  American  Trade  and  its  Financing. 
National  City  Bank  of  New  York.  1920. 

Peixotto,  E.,  Pacific  Shores  From  Panama.  New  York,  1913. 

Pepper,  C.  M.,  Panama  to  Patagonia.  New  York,  1906. 

Reid,  W.  A.,  The  Young  Man’s  Chances  in  South  and  Central 
America,  Washington,  D.  C.,  1914. 

Reyes,  R.,  The  Two  Americas.  New  York,  1914. 

Robertson,  W.  S.,  Rise  of  the  Spanish- American  Republics. 
New  York,  1918. 

Robinson,  A.  G.,  Cuba,  Old  and  New.  New  York,  1915. 

Roosevelt,  T.,  Through  the  Brazilian  Wilderness.  New  York, 
1914. 

Root,  E.,  Latin  America  and  the  United  States.  Cambridge: 
Harvard  University  Press,  1917. 

Ross,  E.  A.,  South  of  Panama.  New  York,  1915. 

Ross,  G.,  Argentina  and  Uruguay.  New  York,  1916. 

Rowe,  L.  S.,  The  United  States  and  Porto  Rico.  1904. 

Ruhl,  A.,  The  Other  Americans.  New  York,  1908. 

Schoenrich,  O.,  Santo  Domingo.  New  York,  1918. 

Shepherd,  W.  R.,  Central  and  South  America.  London,  1914. 

Shepherd,  W.  R.,  The  Hispanic  Nations  of  the  New  World.  New 
Haven : Yale  University  Press,  1919. 

Shepherd,  W.  R.,  Latin  America.  New  York,  1914. 

Speer,  R.  E.,  South  American  Problems.  New  York,  1912. 

Spence,  L.,  Mexico  of  the  Mexicans.  New  York,  1917. 

Sweet,  W.  W.,  A History  of  Latin  America.  New  York,  1919. 

Todd,  M.,  Peru:  A Land  of  Contrasts.  Boston,  1914. 

Van  Dyke,  H.  W.,  Through  South  America.  New  York,  1912. 

Verrill,  A.  H.,  Cuba  Past  and  Present.  New  York,  1914. 

Verrill,  A.  H.,  Getting  Together  With  Latin  America.  New 
York,  1918. 

Walle,  P.,  Bolivia.  London,  1914, 


402 


Bibliography  of  Recent  Books 


Whitney,  C.,  The  Flowing  Road.  Adventures  on  the  great  rivers 
of  South  America.  Philadelphia  and  London,  1912. 

Wilcox,  M.,  and  Rines,  G.  E.,  The  Encyclopedia  of  Latin 
America.  New  York,  1917. 

Winter,  N.  0.,  Argentina  and  Her  People  of  To-day.  Boston, 
1911. 

Wright,  M.  R.,  The  Republic  of  Chile.  Phildelphia,  1914. 

Zahm,  J.  A.,  (Mozans,  H.  J.),  Along  the  Andes  and  Down  the 
Amazon.  New  York  and  London,  1911. 

Zahm,  J.  A.,  (Mozans,  H.  J.),  Up  the  Orinoco  and  Down  the 
Magdalena.  New  York  and  London,  1910. 

Zahm,  J.  A.,  (Mozans,  H.  J.),  Through  South  America’s  South- 
land. New  York  and  London,  1916. 


INDEX 


A.  B.  C.  alliance,  the,  156,  167 

Aconcagua,  Mt.,  grandeur  of,  15 

Agriculture,  as  one  of  chief  indus- 
tries of  Latin  America,  53; 
products  of,  54—55;  intensive 
methods  of,  55-57 ; scientific 
teaching  of,  248;  splendid  op- 
portunities in,  for  “average 
man,”  324-327 

Alcoholism,  campaign  against,  in 
Latin  America,  216-219 

Algorta,  Ruperto,  founder  of  Na- 
tional Temperance  League  in 

« Peru,  217 

Alvarez,  Alejandro,  cited  on  Mon- 
roe Doctrine,  150,  151;  quoted, 
152 

Amazon  River,  as  means  of  trans- 
portation, 13;  vastness  of,  14 

America,  trade  of,  with  Latin 
America,  107-109,  307-318.  See 
United  States 

American,  appropriation  of  name, 
by  people  of  United  States,  334— 
336 

Americans,  Latin-American  view 
of,  333-358 

Argentina,  size  of,  10;  coast  line 
of,  12;  rivers  of,  14;  great 
estates  in,  25;  statistics  of  ship- 
ping of,  33;  immigration  of 
Italians  into,  37-38;  Germans 
in,  43;  railroads  of,  47;  grape- 
raising in,  55;  fruit-growing 
possibilities  of,  55;  cattle-rais- 
ing in,  57-59;  refrigerated  beef 
from,  61;  government  restric- 
tions on  oil  industry  in,  66; 
scientific  study  of  forests  of,  78- 
79;  cotton-manufacturing  in, 

87;  growth  of  manufacturing 
in,  89;  labor  conditions  in,  96- 
97;  labor  legislation  in,  99; 

403 


protection  of  children  in  indus- 
tries in,  101;  trade  of  United 
States  with,  108,  109;  British 
capital  invested  in  first  bank  in, 
116;  public  education  in,  230- 
231,  232-233;  normal  schools 
in,  243;  technical  and  voca- 
tional education  in,  245-246, 
247-248;  National  Library  of, 
252;  painters  of,  273-274; 
women  teachers  in,  296;  coloni- 
zation conditions  in,  328-329; 
summary  of  useful  information 
concerning,  359-360;  banks  and 
banking  institutions  in,  387, 390- 
391 

Art  and  artists  of  Latin  America, 
255,  273-276 

Asphalt,  production  of,  54 
Atacama  region,  Chile,  iron  de- 
posits in,  72 

Athletics,  new  interest  in,  among 
Latin  Americans,  209-212 
Aughinbaugh,  W.  E.,  quoted  on 
Latin-American  trade,  109-110; 
on  subway  in  Buenos  Aires,  131 
Austin,  O.  P.,  statistician,  62 
Austro-German  immigration  so- 
ciety, for  settlement  in  Brazil, 
42 

Automobile  clubs,  road-making 
stimulated  by,  52 
Automobiles,  effects  of,  50;  roads 
for,  in  Brazil,  51;  roads  for, 
about  Rio  de  Janeiro,  51 
Automobile  school,  national,  in 
Honduras,  250 

Avenida  do  Rio  Branco,  Rio 
Janeiro,  23 

Babson,  Roger,  Future  of  South 
America,  cited,  17;  quoted,  82- 
83;  predictions  of,  168;  advice 


404 


Index 


of,  concerning  settling  in  South 
America,  331 

Bananas,  production  of,  55 
Banks,  establishment  of  early,  by 
British  capital,  116-117;  Amer- 
ican, in  Latin  America,  131-132, 
387-389;  principal  Latin  Amer- 
ican, 390-398 

Barbosa,  Ruy,  Brazilian  leader, 
183 

Barrett,  John,  former  Director  of 
Pan-American  Union,  128 
Baseball  in  Caribbean  republics, 
210 

Bello,  Andres,  Venezuelan  scholar 
and  poet,  255;  sketch  of  career 
and  work  of,  266-267 
Bengston,  Nels  A.,  oil  expert,  56 
Berasconi,  Felix,  educational  foun- 
dation established  by,  245 
Bingham,  Hiram,  cited  on  Monroe 
Doctrine,  137,  157;  quoted, 
204-205 

Biobio  River,  size  of,  14 
Bismuth,  from  Bolivia,  54 
Blanco-Fombona,  Rufino,  quoted 
on  Sarmiento,  269 
Bland,  J.  O.  P.,  quoted  concerning 
need  for  roads,  51;  on  Latin- 
American  patriotism,  197-198; 
quoted,  222;  on  Percival  Far- 
quhar,  312 

Blue  Diamond  S.  S.  Line,  33 
Bogota,  temperature  at,  17;  hous- 
ing for  workingmen  in,  104 
Bolivar,  Sim6n,  ideals  of,  169-170 
Bolivia,  silver  mines  of,  11;  tin 
production  in,  11,  54;  moun- 
tains of,  16;  Indians  in,  20; 
project  for  establishing  Ameri- 
can families  in,  44;  mineral 
resources  of,  54;  prospects  for 
cattle-raising  in,  59-60;  gov- 
ernment restrictions  on  oil  in- 
dustry in,  66,  68-69;  temper- 
ance movement  in,  217;  coloni- 
zation conditions  in,  329;  sta- 
tistics of,  and  useful  information 
concerning,  360— 361;  banks  and 
banking  institutions  in,  387, 
391 

Boston,  First  National  Bank  of, 
banking  connections  with  Latin 
America,  132,  387-388 


Boston  University,  branch  of,  in 
Havana,  332 

Braden  interests  in  Latin  America, 
311,  316 

Brandon,  Edgar  E.,  quoted,  241; 
on  vocational  education  of 
women,  297-298 

Brazil,  size  of,  5,  9;  precious 
stones  from,  11,  54;  iron  de- 
posits in,  11;  coastline  of,  12; 
river  system  of,  13-14;  water- 
falls and  water-power  of,  14-15; 
climate  of,  17;  Indians  in,  20; 
number  of  negroes  in,  20;  form 
of  government  of,  30-31;  Ital- 
ians in,  38-39;  German  immigra- 
tion into,  40-41;  railroads  of, 
47-48;  roads  in,  51;  agricul- 
tural productions  of,  53;  dia- 
mond production  of,  54;  fruit- 
growing possibilities  of,  55; 
cattle-raising  in,  57;  as  a com- 
ing cattle  center,  60-61 ; reports 
of  oil  deposits  in,  71;  coal  in, 
75;  lumber  industry  in,  77; 
cotton  growing  and  manufac- 
ture in,  84-85;  manufacture  of 
rubber  articles  in,  88;  future 
manufacturing  centers  of,  90- 
91;  new  manufactures  and 
manufacturing  projects  of,  91- 
92;  trade  of  United  States  with, 
108,  109;  active  part  taken  by, 
against  Germans  in  European 
war,  148;  a clear-cut  nation  by 
itself,  182-183;  public  educa- 
tion in,  235-236,  237 ; technical 
and  vocational  education  in, 
248-250;  colonization  condi- 
tions in,  329-330;  summary  of 
useful  information  concerning, 
361-363;  banks  and  banking 
institutions  in,  387,  391-392 
Brazil  Railway  Company,  extent 
of  business  of,  312-313 
British  in  Latin  America,  43-44. 

See  Great  Britain 
Bronson,  W.  C.,  quoted,  257 
Brooks,  John  Graham,  As  Others 
See  Us  by,  quoted,  204,  354 
Bryce,  James,  predictions  by,  25; 
South  America  by,  cited  and 
quoted,  185-186,  190-191,  203 
Buenos  Aires,  energy  and  progres- 


Index 


405 


eiveness  of  people  of,  23;  public 
works,  club-houses,  newspapers, 
etc.,  of,  23-24;  Jockey  Club  in, 
26;  amount  of  shipping  at,  32- 
33;  Italians  in,  38;  British 
colony  in,  44;  railroads  radiat- 
ing from,  47;  shipment  of 
refrigerated  beef  from,  61;  story 
of  subway  in,  131;  headquar- 
ters of  First  National  Bank  of 
Boston  in,  132;  boating  about, 
211;  socialization  of  newspaper 
plant  in,  216;  First  Habitation 
Congress  in,  219-220;  People’s 
University  of,  251 
Burbidge,  Sir  Woodman,  quoted, 
118 

Cacao,  production  of,  53 
Calder6n,  F.  G.,  publicist,  184; 
quoted,  196-197 

Canada,  excelled  by  Uruguay  in 
cattle-raising,  57 

Caribbean  countries,  policy  of 
United  States  toward,  142-144 
Cattle-raising,  53;  extent  of,  57- 
58 

Cauca  River,  13 

Cebridn,  Juan  C.,  advocate  of 
term  “Hispanic  America,”  178 
Central  America,  Republic  of, 
establishment  of,  172-175.  See 
Federation  of  Central  America 
Central  American  Union,  167,  169 
Cereals,  production  of,  53 
Chaco,  El,  19;  German  settlers  in, 
43 

Chapala,  Lake,  as  a summer  re- 
sort, 13 

Children,  protection  of,  in  indus- 
tries, 100-102 

Children’s  League  of  Temperance, 
in  Peru,  217 

Child-welfare  work  of  Latin- 
American  women,  302-304 
Chile,  copper  from,  11;  coal  and 
oil  production  in,  11;  coastline 
of,  12;  lake  region  of,  13;  rivers 
of,  14,  15;  climate  and  prod- 
ucts of,  18;  few  negroes  in,  20; 
Germans  in,  39-40,  43;  British 
settlers  in,  44;  railroads  of,  48; 
public  roads  in,  51 ; mineral 
resources  of,  54;  olive-growing 


in,  55;  fruit-growing  possibil- 
ities of,  55;  oil  industry  in,  69; 
iron  deposits  in,  72;  coal  in,  75- 
76;  lumber  industry  in,  77-78; 
growth  of  manufacturing  in,  89- 
90;  prospects  for  industrial 
prosperity  in,  90;  temperance 
question  in.  217-218;  public 
education  in,  231,  233-235; 
normal  schools  in,  243-244; 
technical  instruction  in,  247; 
trade  schools  for  girls  in,  295; 
useful  information  about,  sum- 
marized, 363-364;  banks  and 
banking  institutions  in,  387, 
392-393 

Church,  F.,  on  mountain  scenery 
of  Latin  America,  10 
Cities,  prospects  for  Latin-Amer- 
ican,  24-25;  metropolitan,  of 
United  States  not  a fair  stand- 
ard for  American  life  as  a whole, 
346-347 

Ctemenceau,  quoted  on  military 
barracks  at  Sao  Paulo,  24;  on 
labor  legislation  in  South  Amer- 
ica, 98-99;  quoted,  215 
Climate,  of  Latin  America,  16-19; 
lack  of  relation  between  crea- 
tive power  of  cultural  repre- 
sentatives of  Latin  America 
and, 256 

Coal,  mining  of,  in  Latin  America, 
11;  general  situation  as  to,  72- 
73;  location  of  most  important 
deposits,  73-76 

Coastlines  of  Latin- American 
countries,  12 
Coffee,  production  of,  53 
Coffee  plantations,  Italians  on,  39 
Colby,  Bainbridge,  quoted  on  size 
of  Brazil,  5;  on  Col6n  Theatre 
in  Buenos  Aires,  24 
Colleges,  establishment  of  Amer- 
ican, in  Latin  America,  331-332. 
See  Universities 

Colombia,  size  of,  10;  rivers  of, 
13;  climate  of,  17;  change  of 
name  to  “Republic  of  Colom- 
bia,” 30;  platinum  from,  54; 
prospects  for  cattle-raising  in, 
59-60;  oil  industry  in,  66,  69- 
71;  coal  in,  74;  cotton-growing 
and  manufacture  in,  86;  United 


40C 


Index 


States  reparations  to,  144,  146; 
temperance  movement  in,  217; 
public  education  in,  229-230; 
summary  of  information  con- 
cerning, 364-365;  banks  and 
banking  institutions  in,  387- 
388,  393 

Colonization,  conditions  as  to,  in 
Latin  America,  327-330;  bene- 
ficial international  results  of, 
330-332 

Commerce  of  Latin  America,  21 
Coolidge,  A.  C.,  cited  on  Monroe 
Doctrine,  137;  prediction  of, 
regarding  Germans  of  Brazil, 
149 

Cooper,  Clayton  S.,  on  German 
colonists  in  Chile,  40;  quoted, 
215 

Copper,  production  of,  in  Chile, 
11,  54 

Cordero,  Rafael,  cigar-maker  and 
teacher,  228 
Com,  production  of,  53 
Costa  Rica,  size  of,  10;  govern- 
ment royalty  on  oil  in,  65; 
reasons  for  not  joining  Federa- 
tion of  Central  America,  172, 
173-174;  past  history  of,  175- 
176;  useful  information  con- 
cerning, summarized,  365-366; 
banks  and  banking  institutions 
in,  388,  393-394 

Cotton,  53;  from  Peru,  55;  pro- 
duction and  manufacture  of,  in 
Brazil,  84—85 

Courtesy,  of  Latin  Americans, 
207;  susceptibility  of  Latin 
Americans  to,  352-353 
Credit,  sources  of  information  con- 
cerning conditions  of,  386 
Cristdbal,  office  building  of  ship- 
ping interests  at,  35 
Crops  of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  17-18 
Cruz,  Oswaldo,  noted  medical  sci- 
ence, 214 

Cuba,  roads  in,  50;  asphalt  from, 
54;  agricultural  productivity^, 
54—55;  iron  deposits  in,  72; 
labor  legislation  in,  100;  trade 
of  United  States  with,  108,  109; 
healthfulness  of,  213;  agricul- 
tural opportunities  in,  325-327 ; 
statistics  and  useful  information 


concerning,  366-367 ; banks  and 
banking  institutions  in,  388,  394 
Cultural  development  of  Latin 
America,  255-278 
Customs,  foreign  influences  on 
Latin  American,  206-209; 
American,  distasteful  to  Latin 
Americans  and  Europeans,  353- 
355 

Dario,  Rub6n,  poet,  255;  sketch 
of  career  and  work  of,  270-271; 
ode  To  Roosevelt  by,  271 
Day,  Clive,  History  of  Commerce, 
quoted,  105 

Department  stores,  European  in 
Latin  America,  320-321 
Deserts  of  Latin  America,  11 
Diamonds  from  Brazil,  11,  54 
Distances  to  Latin  America  from 
United  States,  28-29;  table  of, 
385 

Doheny,  E.  L.,  oil  capitalist,  62, 
314 

Dominican  Republic,  branches  of 
International  Banking  Corpora- 
tion of  New  York  in,  133;  pub- 
lic education  in,  231;  summary 
of  useful  information  concern- 
ing, 367-368;  banks  and  bank- 
ing institutions  in,  388,  394 
Domville-Fife,  C.  W.,  quoted  on 
river  system  of  Brazil,  13-14; 
on  coal  in  Peru,  75 
Drago  Doctrine,  formulation  of, 
154 

Drama  in  Latin  America,  277 

Ecuador,  Avenue  of  Volcanoes  in, 
15;  climate  of,  16-17;  Indians 
in,  20;  railroad  of,  48;  coal  in, 
74;  cotton  growing  and  manu- 
facture in,  86;  public  education 
in,  231,  237;  teaching  of  sanita- 
tion in,  237 ; summary  of  useful 
information  concerning,  368- 
369;  banks  in,  394-395 
Education,  under  the  old  regime, 
in  Latin  America,  227-229;  pub- 
lic, of  recent  date,  229-231; 
zones  of,  231-234;  secondary, 
239-240;  in  universities,  241- 
242;  technical  and  vocational, 
245-251;  of  women,  290-292; 


Index 


407 


vocational,  for  girls,  292-293; 
defect  in  American,  relative  to 
Latin  America,  356-357 
Edwards,  Ricardo  Salas,  quoted 
on  scope  of  women’s  activities, 
289-290 

Efficiency,  Latin-American  opin- 
ion of,  344 

Electrical  improvements,  15 
Elliott,  Lilian  E.,  quoted,  6,  130; 
on  revolutions  in  industries,  56; 
on  Brazil  Railway  Company, 
313;  on  0 Jornal  do  Commercio, 
351 

Emeralds,  from  Colombia,  54 
Energy,  examples  of,  found  in 
Latin  America,  22-24 
Engineering,  technical  training  in, 
249 

England,  influence  of,  on  Latin- 
American  customs  and  man- 
ners, 206-207,  209 
Englishman,  as  a business  man  in 
Latin  America,  116-119.  See 
Great  Britain 

Entente  idea  among  Latin-Amer- 
ican countries,  203 
Espinosa,  Aurelio  M.,  advocate 
of  term  “Hispanic  America,’’ 
178 

Farquhar,  Percival,  head  of  Brazil 
Railway  Company,  312-313 
Federation  of  Central  America, 
169,  171-172;  antecedents  of, 
175-177 

Feminist  movement  in  Latin 
America,  285-290 
Finlay,  Carlos  Juan,  Cuban  phy- 
sician, 213 

Flag,  love  of  Latin  Americans  for 
their  national,  197-198 
Football  in  southern  republics, 
210-211 

Foreign  influences  on  social  usage, 
206-209 

Foreign  interests,  paramount,  in 
Latin  America,  107-135 
France,  influence  of,  on  Latin- 
American  customs  and  manners, 
206-207 

Free  trade,  idea  of,  among  Latin- 
American  republics,  167-168; 
and  rapprochement,  168-169 


Fruit,  at  Bogota,  17 
Fruit-growing,  55 
Funch-Edye  S.  S.  Line,  33 

Gambling,  propensities  for,  209- 
210 

Gaucho,  as  a national  hero,  199; 

literature  of  the,  199-200 
Germans,  immigration  of,  into 
Latin  America,  39;  in  Valdivia, 
Chile,  39-40 

Germany,  advent  of,  in  Latin- 
American  trade,  112;  trade 
drive  of,  in  Latin  America,  1 19- 
123;  doctrine  of  “service”  of, 
applied  to  international  trade, 
123-125;  regaining  of  former 
position  by,  125-126 
Girls,  vocational  education  of, 
292-295 

Grace  & Company,  trade  of,  with 
Latin  America,  126;  enormous 
business  done  by,  312 
Great  Britain,  immigrants  from, 
into  Latin  America,  43-44; 
period  of  ascendancy  of,  in 
Latin-American  trade,  112;  so- 
licitude of,  for  Latin-American 
markets,  113-114;  confidence 
of,  in  Latin  America,  114-116; 
Latin-American  trust  in  man- 
agement by  representatives  of, 
116-119;  comparison  of  Amer- 
ican shipping  with  that  of, 
130 

Green,  Edward,  cotton  expert,  56 
Guatemala,  roads  in,  50;  oil  in- 
dustry in,  65;  lumber  industry 
in,  78;  member  of  Federation 
of  Central  America,  172;  past 
history  of,  175-176;  public 
education  in,  237;  useful  in- 
formation concerning,  summa- 
rized, 369-370;  banks  in,  395 
Guayaquil,  distance  to,  from  New 
York,  28 

Guayaquil-Quito  railroad,  48 
Guayra  Falls,  Paraguay,  14-15 
Guggenheim  interests,  extent  of, 
311-312 

Habitation  Congress,  meeting  of, 
219-220 

Haiti,  useful  information  concern- 


408 


Index 


ing,  370-371;  banks  and  bank- 
ing institutions  in,  388,  395 
Harding,  President,  reaffirmation 
of  Monroe  Doctrine  by,  138 
Health,  measures  for  protection  of, 
212-215 

Highways,  development  of,  in 
Latin  America,  11;  situation 
as  to,  48-52 

Hilleret,  M.,  rise  of,  to  wealth, 
322-323 

Hills,  E.  C.,  translation  of  Rub6n 
Dario’s  ode  To  Roosevelt  by,  271 
Hispanic  America,  use  of  term,  178 
Histories  by  Latin-American 
scholars,  261-262 
Honduras,  size  of,  10;  member  of 
Federation  of  Central  America, 
172;  past  history  of,  175-176; 
statistics  and  useful  informa- 
tion concerning,  371-372;  banks 
and  banking  institutions  in, 
388,  395 

Hookworm,  campaign  against,  in 
Paraguay,  214 

Horse-racing,  wealth  evidenced 
by,  26 

Hotels,  opportunity  for  invest- 
ment in,  318-320;  Latin-Amer- 
ican views  of  American,  342-343 
Housing,  for  workingmen,  103- 
104;  Congress  on,  in  Buenos 
Aires,  219-220;  reform  in,  220 
Howard,  Thomas,  pedigreed  cat- 
tle introduced  into  Uruguay  by, 
58 

Iguazu  Falls,  Brazil,  14 
Illampu,  Mt.,  in  Bolivia,  16 
Illimani,  Mt.,  in  Bolivia,  16 
Illiteracy,  statistics  of,  290 
Immigrants,  fortunes  built  up  by, 
in  Latin  America,  321-323 
Immigration  into  Latin  America, 
35  fb;  of  Italians  into  Argen- 
tina, Uruguay,  and  Brazil  37- 
39;  of  Germans  into  Chile, 
Brazil,  and  Argentina,  39-43; 
British,  43-44;  small  extent  of 
North  American,  44;  tabular 
statistics  of,  45;  effect  of,  on 
labor  conditions,  95-98 
Imperialism,  fear  of  American, 
339-340 


Indians,  20-21;.  as  laborers,  95- 
96;  intemperance  among,  and 
preventive  measures,  216—217, 
301-302 

Individualism,  transition  from,  to 
social  regulation  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica, 225-226 

Industria  Femenil,  society  of, 
Lima,  294 

Industries,  progress  in,  53-80 
International  rapprochement,  158- 
177 

Investments,  American,  in  Latin 
America,  132-134,  309-311 
Iquitos,  Peru,  water  transporta- 
tion to,  15 

Irigoyen,  Hipolito,  President  of 
Argentine  Republic,  96,  121 
Iron,  deposits  of,  in  Brazil,  11;  in 
Latin  America  generally,  72 
Isolation,  emergence  of  Latin 
America  from,  27-35 
Italians,  immigration  of,  into  Ar- 
gentina, 37-38;  in  Uruguay  and 
in  Brazil,  38-39 

Japanese,  coal  deposits  in  Chile 
owned  by,  76;  business  inter- 
ests of,  in  South  America,  134- 
135 

Jockey  Club,  Buenos  Aires,  26 
Jornal  do  Commercio,  0,  of  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  149,  351 
Journalism.  See  Newspapers 
Journals,  scientific  and  educa- 
tional, 261 

Keith,  Minor  C.,  founder  of 
United  Fruit  Company,  55, 
314 

Kennedy,  R.  T.,  quoted  on  Brit- 
ish trade  with  Latin  America, 
113 

Knox,  Secretary,  visit  of,  to  Latin 
America,  158 

Krupps,  recent  concession  of  land 
to,  in  Chile,  125 
“Kultur,”  American,  341-344 

Labor;  changing  conditions  of,  in 
Latin  America,  95-98;  legisla- 
tion affecting,  98-100;  protec- 
tion of  children  and  women  in, 
100-102 


Index 


409 


Lakes  of  Latin  America,  13.  See 
Waterways 

Lamport  and  Holt  Line,  33 

Land,  terms  for  securing,  327-330 

La  Plata,  Rio  de,  as  means  of 
transportation,  13 

Latan6,  John  H.,  The  United 
States  and  Latin  America,  cited, 
153 

Latin  America,  new  views  in  re- 
gard to,  1-3;  comparison  with 
United  States,  3-5;  common 
misconceptions  concerning,  5-7 ; 
immense  size  of,  8-11;  trans- 
portation in,  11-12;  immense 
coastlines  of,  12-13;  natural 
advantages  of,  13-19;  negro 
and  Indian  questions  in,  19—21 ; 
not  “effete,”  21-24;  signs  of 
greatness  of,  24-26;  emergence 
of,  from  isolation,  27-35;  im- 
migration into,  35-46;  develop- 
ment of  transportation  in,  46- 
52;  changes  and  advances  in 
industries  of,  53-62;  oil  and 
coal  production  in,  62-76;  pros- 
pects for  lumbering  industry, 
76-79;  manufacturing  condi- 
tions and  prospects  in,  81-95; 
labor  conditions  in,  95-104; 
comparison  with  United  States 
in  development  of  industries, 
104-106;  paramount  foreign 
industries  in,  107-135;  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  and  the  North 
American  peril,  136-157;  rap- 
prochement between,  and  Euro- 
pean Latin  countries,  165-166; 
rapprochement  among  countries 
of,  themselves,  166r-168;  pro- 
posal for  political  confederation, 
169-172;  growth  of  national- 
ism in,  178  ff. ; historical  rea- 
sons for  lack  of  solidarity  among 
Spanish  countries  of,  185-189; 
social  development  of,  204  ff.; 
foreign  influences  on  social 
usage  of,  206-209;  physical 
culture  and  athletics  in,  209- 
212;  new  conception  of  sanita- 
tion in,  212-215;  social  move- 
ments, prohibition,  etc.,  in,  215- 
224;  transition  from  individual- 
ism to  social  regulation  in,  225- 


226;  public  enlightenment  and 
education  in,  227-254;  cultural 
development  of,  and  its  chief 
agencies,  255-278;  position  of 
woman  in,  279-305;  the  field  of 
opportunity  in,  306-327;  col- 
onization conditions  in,  327- 
332;  views  held  by  people  of, 
of  so-called  “Yankees,”  333- 
358;  statistical  summary  and 
resum6  of  useful  information  re- 
garding, 359-386;  foreign  and 
native  financial  institutions  of, 
387-398 

League  for  Anti-Alcoholic  Prop- 
aganda, Peru,  217 
Le  Breton,  T.  A.,  representative 
of  Argentina,  67-68 
Libraries,  as  educational  agencies, 
252-253 

Lick,  James,  American  capitalist, 
314 

Lima,  housing  for  workingmen  in, 
104;  Industria  Femenil  of,  294 
Literature,  regionalistic  phase  of 
Latin-American,  and  effect  on 
patriotism,  198-200;  progress  of 
Latin-American,  compared  with 
progress  of  American  literature, 
256-264;  schools  of,  264-266; 
Andres  Bello,  Sarmiento,  and 
Ruben  Dario  as  representatives 
of,  266-272 

Llanquihue,  German  colonists  of, 
40 

Llanquihue,  Lake,  13 
Longitudinal  Railway,  Chile,  48 
Lotteries,  an  adoption  of  a Euro- 
pean custom,  210;  activities  of 
women  against,  301 
Lumber,  prospects  for,  in  Latin 
America,  76-80 

Luro,  Pedro,  immigrant  who  be- 
came a millionaire,  322 

Mackenzie,  Murdo,  expert  in  cat- 
tle and  packing  industries,  62 
Magdalena  River,  as  means  of 
transportation,  13;  petroleum 
areas  along,  70-71 
Mails,  information  as  to,  383-384 
Manners,  American,  distasteful  to 
Latin  Americans  and  Euro- 
peans, 353-355.  See  Customs 


410 


Index 


Manufacturing,  general  situation 
as  to,  in  Latin-American  coun- 
tries, 81-94;  future  of,  94-95; 
comparison  with  that  of  United 
States,  104-106 

Maracaibo,  Lake,  oil  production 
in  region  of,  70 

Maracay,  Venezuela,  paper-mak- 
ing at,  88 

Matto  Grosso,  highway  to,  51 

Meiggs,  Henry,  American  engineer 
and  builder,  313-314 

Mercantile  Bank  of  the  Americas, 
branches  of,  132 

Meta  River,  13 

Mexico,  silver  production  in,  11; 
coastline  of,  12;  Indians  in,  20; 
railroads  of,  48 ; cotton-growing 
in,  53;  mineral  resources  of,  54; 
cattle-raising  in,  57;  future 
prospects  for  cattle-raising  in, 
59-60;  oil  from,  62-64;  coal  in, 
73;  cotton  growing  and  manu- 
facture in,  86;  varied  manu- 
factures of,  93-94;  labor  laws 
of,  99;  protection  of  children  in 
industries  in,  101;  trade  of 
United  States  with,  108,  109; 
social  programme  of,  222-224; 
public  education  in,  231,  237- 
238;  National  Library  of,  252; 
modern  art  in,  275-276;  sta- 
tistics of,  and  summary  of  use- 
ful information,  372-374;  banks 
in,  395-396 

Mexico  City,  cathedral  in,  24; 
union  railway  station  in,  48 

Minerals,  production  of,  in  Latin 
America,  11,  54 

Misconceptions  regarding  Latin 
America,  5-7 

Missionaries,  numbers  and  work 
of,  220-221 

Misti,  Mt.,  in  Peru,  15 

Monroe  Doctrine,  conflicting 
views  of,  137;  Latin-American 
notion  of  transformation  of, 
138-140;  contradictory  appli- 
cations of,  140-142;  an  obso- 
lete expression,  142;  President 
Roosevelt’s  interpretation  of, 
144-146;  application  or  non- 
application of,  to  republics 
south  of  Caribbean  territory, 


147-150;  intelligent  Latin- 
American  view  of,  150;  in 
reality  a Pan-American  Doc- 
trine, 151-154;  unnecessary  in 
respect  to  non-Caribbean  coun- 
tries of  Latin  America,  156; 
broadening  of,  157;  suggested 
avoidance  of  use  of  term,  157 

Montevideo,  housing  for  working- 
men in,  103-104 

Moral  conditions  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica, 6;  proper  angle  for  judg- 
ment of,  7-8 

Motion  pictures,  as  educational 
agencies,  253 

Mountains  of  Latin  America,  15- 
16 

Munson  Steamship  Line,  34 

Music  as  the  adored  art  of  Latin 
America,  276-277 

Nacidn,  La,  newspaper,  149,  351 

National  City  Bank,  branches  of, 
in  Latin  America,  131-132, 387- 
389 

National  Temperance  League, 
Peru,  217 

Nationalism,  growth  of,  in  Latin 
America,  178-203;  entente  idea 
among  Latin-American  nations, 
203 

Negro,  problem  of,  non-existent  in 
Latin  America,  19-20;  treat- 
ment of,  208 

Nelson,  Ernesto,  educational 
leader,  233 

Newspapers,  Buenos  Aires,  23; 
English,  in  Buenos  Aires,  44; 
influence  of,  in  overcoming  isola- 
tion, 52;  high  types  of,  in  Chile 
and  Brazil,  149;  socialization  of 
plants  of,  216;  as  educational 
agencies,  253;  need  for  estab- 
lishment of  American,  331; 
Latin-American  judgment  of 
American,  344-346;  differences 
between  American  and  Latin- 
American,  350-352 

Nicaragua,  Indians  in,  20;  road- 
building in,  50;  not  yet  a mem- 
ber of  Federation  of  Central 
America,  172-173;  past  history 
of,  175-176;  summary  of  useful 
information  concerning,  374- 


Index 


411 


375;  banks  and  banking  insti- 
tutions in,  388,  396 
Nitrates,  production  of,  11 
Normal  schools,  development  of, 
243-245;  one  of  strongest  di- 
visions of  educational  system, 
297 

Novels  of  Latin  America,  200 

O’Hara,  John  F.,  on  propaganda 
against  American  shipping,  129 
Oil,  production  of,  in  Latin 
America,  11;  history  of  indus- 
try, 62-72 

Olives,  from  Chile,  55 
Opportunity,  field  of,  in  Latin 
America,  306-332 
Orinoco  River,  as  means  of  trans- 
portation, 13 

Pacific  Steamship  Company,  33 
Packing  industry  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica, 59,  61-62 

Packing  plants,  American,  311 
Painters,  Latin-American,  255, 
273-276 

Palace  of  Congress,  building  of, 
by  Government  of  Argentina, 
22 

Panama,  city  of,  future  of,  25 
Panama,  Republic  of,  oil  industry 
in,  65;  statistics  and  useful  in- 
formation concerning,  375-376; 
banks  and  banking  institutions 
in,  388,  396 

Panama  Canal,  traffic  facilitated 
by,  12;  shortening  of  distances 
to  Latin  America  by,  28;  ton- 
nage transmitted  through,  33 
Panama-Costa  Rica  boundary  dis- 
pute, 138,  139,  140 
Pan-American  Bulletin,  articles 
in,  162 

Pan-American  leadership  of 
United  States,  foreign  antag- 
onism to,  159-165 
Pan-American  Magazine,  128 
Pan-American  Union,  work  of,  128 
Paper,  manufacture  of,  in  Ven- 
ezuela, 88;  in  Brazil,  92 
Paraguay,  size  of,  10;  waterfalls 
and  water-power  of,  14-15; 
climate  of,  18-19;  Germans  in, 
43;  prospects  for  cattle-raising 


in,  59-60;  labor  conditions  in, 
98;  an  individual  nationality, 
194;  summary  of  useful  in- 
formation about,  376-377 ; 

banks  in,  396 

Parand,  State  of,  Germans  in,  41 
Parand  River,  14 
Pascarella,  Luis,  quoted,  341 
Patagonia,  grazing  ranches  in,  25; 

British  settlers  in,  44 
Patriotism,  factors  in  development 
of,  in  Latin-American  countries, 
192-195;  dictators  as  contrib- 
utors to,  195-197;  modern 

methods  of  inspiring,  197-198; 
regionalistic  literature  and,  198- 
200;  effect  on,  of  fear  of  United 
States,  201-202 
Pearson,  F.  S.,  engineer J 314 
Pefia,  Carlos  Ferndndez,  Chilean 
temperance  leader,  217 
Peonage  system,  passing  of,  103 
People’s  University,  Buenos  Aires, 
251 

Periodicals,  published  by  Latin- 
American  workingmen,  102- 
103;  scientific  and  educational, 
261.  See  also  Newspapers 
Peru,  vanadium  from,  11;  moun- 
tains of,  15;  Indians  in,  20; 
British  settlers  in,  44;  railroads 
of,  48;  roads  in,  51-52;  cotton 
growing  and  manufacture  in,  53, 
55,  86;  mineral  resources  of,  54; 
future  of  cattle-raising  in,  59- 
60;  government  restrictions  on 
oil  industry  in,  66;  coal  in,  74- 
75;  protection  of  children  in 
industries  in,  101;  campaign 
against  alcoholism  in,  216-217; 
public  education  in,  231;  So- 
ciety of  Feminine  Industry  in, 
294;  rdsumd  of  information 
concerning,  377-379;  banks  and 
banking  institutions  in,  389,  397 
Petroleum.  See  Oil 
Petropolis,  Treaty  of,  155 
Physical  culture,  progress  in, 
among  Latin  Americans,  209- 
212 

Physicians,  numbers  and  achieve- 
ments of,  212-213 
Piper,  American  capitalist,  323 
Platinum  from  Colombia,  54 


412 


Index 


Poetry,  development  of  Latin- 
American,  258,  263 
Poets,  Latin-American,  255 
Porto  Rico,  a United  States  pos- 
session, 139 

Portugal,  former  commercial  pol- 
icy of,  toward  Brazil,  111-112 
Postal  information,  383-384 
Potato,  origin  of,  in  Chile,  18 
Potosi,  mines  of,  11 
Precious  stones,  production  of,  in 
Brazil,  11,  54 

Prensa,  La,  newspaper  of  Buenos 
Aires,  23,  149,  351,  355 
Prison  reform,  220 
Prohibition  movement,  216-219; 

influence  of  women  in,  301-302 
Putumayo  River,  vastness  of,  13 

Quito,  railway  from  Guayaquil  to, 
48;  population,  newspapers, 
and  hotels  of,  369;  banks  in,  394 

Railroads,  development  of,  in 
Latin  America,  11;  conditions 
as  to,  46-49;  British  invest- 
ments in,  115-116 
Railway  supplies,  manufacture  of, 
in  Brazil,  92 

Rapprochement,  international,  158; 
between  Latin  America  and 
European  Latin  countries,  165- 
166;  among  Latin-American 
countries  themselves,  166-168 
Refrigeration  of  meats  for  export, 
60 

Religion,  tolerance  in  matters  of, 
among  Latin  Americans,  208; 
instruction  in,  given  by  mis- 
sionaries, 220-221 
Revolutions  in  Latin  America, 
misconceptions  regarding,  6 
Reyes,  Rafael,  explorations  of, 
13 

Ribas,  Mario,  article  by,  quoted, 
31 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  harbor  of,  12; 
building  of  Avenida  do  Rio 
Branco  in,  23;  Botanical  Gar- 
dens of,  24;  shipping  at,  32-33 
Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  crops  produced 
in,  17-18;  prices  of  land  in,  36; 
Germans  in,  41 
River  of  Doubt,  size  of,  14 


Rivers  of  Latin  America,  13-14. 
See  Waterways 

Roads.  See  Highways 

Rockefeller  Foundation,  campaign 
waged  on  yellow  fever  by,  in 
Ecuador,  237 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  quoted  on 
South  America,  2;  Rio  Theo- 
dora named  for,  14;  interpre- 
tation of  Monroe  Doctrine  by, 
144-146;  expedition  of,  to 
Brazil,  158 

Root,  Elihu,  quoted  on  South 
America,  2;  on  disadvantages 
of  shipping  in  vessels  of  com- 
petitors, 129-  visit  of,  to  Latin 
America,  158 

Ross,  E.  A.,  cited  on  physical 
tests  of  school  children,  211; 
quoted  on  position  of  woman  in 
South  America,  282;  on  truth- 
telling in  writing  about  South 
Americans,  298 

Rowe,  Leo  S.,  Director  of  Pan- 
American  Union,  128 

Rubber,  production  of,  53;  manu- 
facture of  articles  of,  88 

Salvador,  roads  in,  50;  member  of 
Federation  of  Central  America, 
172;  past  history  of,  175-176; 
summary  of  useful  information 
concerning,  378-379;  banks  in, 
397 

Salvation  Army,  stations  of,  221 

Sanitation,  new  conception  of, 
212-215;  in  Mexico  under  Diaz, 
224 

Santa  Catharina,  Brazil,  Germans 
in,  41 

Santiago,  Chile,  recreation  park  in, 
24;  Palace  of  Fine  Arts  of, 
273 

Santo  Domingo.  See  Dominican 
Republic 

Sao  Paulo,  Brazil,  militaiy  bar- 
racks in,  24;  Italians  in,  39; 
industrial  activities  of,  91 

Sao  Paulo-Santos  railroad  line, 
47-48 

Sarasara,  Mt.,  in  Peru,  15 

Sarmiento,  Domingo  Faustino. 
the  “schoolmaster-president,’ 
232,  243,  267-270 


Index 


413 


Schmidt,  Francisco,  rise  of,  to 
wealth,  322 

Schools,  development  of  normal, 
243-245;  establishment  of 
American,  in  Latin  America, 
331-332.  See  Education 
Schurz,  W.  L.,  U.  S.  Trade  Com- 
missioner, 69 

Schwalbe,  Karl,  expert  on  forestry, 
78 

Science  and  scientists  in  Latin 
America,  277-278 
Sculptors,  Latin-American,  255 
Service,  doctrine  of,  in  interna- 
tional trade,  123-125 
Sete  Quedas  Falls,  Paraguay,  14- 
15 

Sherrill,  Charles  H.,  quoted,  163 
Shipping,  increase  in  facilities  for, 

32- 35;  disadvantages  attached 
to  use  of  competitors’  vessels  for, 
129;  rate  of  increase  in  Amer- 
ican, 130 

Silver,  production  of,  11;  in 
Mexico,  54 

Slavery,  last  of,  in  Latin  America, 
31 

Smith,  C.  Dunbar,  agricultural 
colonizer,  59,  327 
Social  development  of  Latin  Amer- 
ica, 204-226 

Social  evils,  women  and  the 
eradication  of,  301-302 
Social  movements,  215-216 
Songs,  national,  197 
South  American,  periodical,  128 
Spain,  misconceptions  regarding, 
5-6;  former  monopoly  of  Latin- 
American  trade  by,  111;  efforts 
of,  to  establish  new  relations 
with  Latin  America,  165-166; 
lack  of  national  loyalty  among 
people  of,  187;  Latin-American 
countries  not  to  be  confused 
with,  189-190 

Speer,  Robert  E.,  on  Chilean 
educational  system,  234 
Sports,  increasing  fondness  for, 
210-212 

Steamship  lines  to  Latin  America, 

33- 34 

Stebinger,  E.,  oil  statistics  by,  64 
Stinnes,  Hugo,  steamship  line 
planned  by,  for  South  American 


trade,  34;  land  tracts  acquired 
by,  in  Argentina,  125 
Strikes  in  Argentina,  96-97 
Subway  in  Buenos  Aires,  131 
Sugar,  production  of,  53,  54-55 

Tablelands  of  Latin  America,  16 
Tariff,  protection  of  industries  by, 
105-106;  situation  resulting 
from,  168 

Teachers,  training  of  women  for, 
296-298 

Teacher-training  schools,  243-245 
Telegraph  and  telephone  systems, 
effects  of,  52 

Temperance  movement,  216-219; 

influence  of  women  in,  301-302 
Thorium,  from  Brazil,  54 
Tin,  from  Bolivia,  11,  54 
Titicaca,  Lake,  traffic  on,  13 
Tobacco,  production  of,  53;  from 
Cuba,  55 

Tobar  Doctrine,  formulation  of, 
154 

Tornquist,  business  house  of,  314 
Tourist  travel,  prospects  for,  16 
Trade,  of  United  States  with  Latin 
America,  107-109,  307-318;  na- 
tional mobilization  for  Latin- 
American,  109-111;  change  in 
attitude  concerning,  111-114 
Trans-Andean  railroad,  48 
Transportation,  question  of,  11- 
12;  modern  advances  in,  46-52 
Trinidad,  asphalt  from,  54 

“Uncle  Sam”  conception  held  of 
Americans,  333-334 
United  States,  comparison  of  de- 
velopment of  Latin  America 
with  that  of,  3-5;  Latin  Amer- 
ica compared  with,  as  to  size, 
9-10;  commerce  of  Latin  Amer- 
ica and,  compared,  21;  shorten- 
ing of  distances  from,  to  Latin 
America  by  Panama  Canal,  28- 
29;  immigration  figures  of 
Latin  America  compared  with 
those  of,  36-37 ; small  amount  of 
immigration  into  Latin  Amer- 
ica from,  44;  railroad  situation 
in  Latin  America  and,  con- 
trasted, 46-47;  scientists  and 
industrial  investigators  from, 


414 


Index 


56-57;  Latin-American  special- 
ists sent  to,  for  study,  57;  ex- 
celled by  Latin  America  in 
cattle-raising;  57;  activities  of 
packers  of,  in  Latin  America, 
59;  lumber  imported  to  Latin 
America  from,  76-77;  labor 
troubles  in  Latin  America  and, 
compared,  98;  comparison  with, 
in  development  of  industries, 
104-106;  statistics  of  trade  of, 
with  Latin  America,  107-109, 
307-318;  weakness  of  former 
methods  of,  in  Latin-American 
trade,  12&-127;  present-day 
supremacy  of,  in  trade,  127; 
new  elements  in  business  of,  in 
Latin  America,  127-128;  mat- 
ter of  shipping,  129-130;  bank- 
ing and  investments  by,  131— 
134,  387-389;  maintenance  of 
Monroe  Doctrine  by,  136  ff. : 
justifiable  policy  of,  toward 
Caribbean  countries,  142-144; 
foreign  antagonism  to  Pan- 
American  leadership  of,  159- 
165;  influence  of  fear  of,  on 
Latin-American  patriotism, 
201-202;  influence  of,  on  Latin- 
American  customs  and  manners, 
206-207,  209,  219;  comparison 
of  Latin-American  progress  in 
literature  with  that  of,  256-264; 
Latin-American  views  and  opin- 
ions regarding  people  of,  333- 
358 

Universities,  ancient,  in  Latin 
America,  228,  260;  admission  of 
Latin-American  students  to 
American,  239-240;  European 
characteristics  of  Latin-Ameri- 
can, 241-242;  in  Argentina,  for 
training  teachers,  244 

Uruguay,  climate  of,  18;  Ital- 
ians in,  38;  Germans  in,  43; 
highways  and  roads  in,  50-51; 
cattle-raising  in,  57-59;  affores- 
tation in,  79;  labor  legislation 
in,  99;  an  individual  national- 
ity, 194;  comparative  health- 
fulness of,  213;  public  educa- 
tion in,  231,  236;  normal  schools 
in,  244;  statistics  of,  and  sum- 
mary of  useful  information, 


379-380;  banks  and  banking 
institutions  in,  389,  397-398 
Uruguay  River,  14;  project  for 
international  power  plant  on. 
71-72 

Vaccaria,  highway  to,  51 
Valdivia,  Chile,  German  colo- 
nists of,  39-40 

Vanadium,  production  of,  in  Peru, 
11,  54 

Van  Dyke,  Harry  W.,  cited  on 
American  shipping,  308 
Venezuela,  road-building  in,  50; 
asphalt  from,  54;  prospects  for 
cattle-raising  in,  59-60;  oil 
industry  in,  69-70;  coal  in,  73; 
cotton  growing  and  manufac- 
ture in,  86;  paper-making  in, 
88;  famous  painters  of,  274; 
colonization  conditions  in,  328; 
statistics  of  area,  population, 
trade,  and  other  information, 
summarized,  380-382;  banks 
and  banking  institutions  in,  389, 
398 

Verrill,  A.  H.,  quoted  on  North 
American  views  of  Latin  Amer- 
ica, 8 

Veterinary  medicine,  higher  insti- 
tution of,  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  248 
Virgin  Islands,  acquisition  of,  by 
United  States,  139 
Vivanco,  Jos6  A.,  agricultural 
commissioner  to  United  States, 
57 

Volcanoes,  Avenue  of,  in  Ecuador, 
15 

Voting  by  Latin-American  women, 
286-287 

Ward,  George  F.,  educational  in- 
stitution founded  by,  245-246 
Waterfalls  of  Latin  America,  14- 
15 

Water-power,  amount  of,  14-15 
Waterways,  transportation  on, 
11-12;  superiority  of  Latin 
America  in,  13-14 
Wealth,  evidences  of,  in  Latin 
America,  26 

Wells.  W.  C.,  of  Pan-American 
Union,  120 


Index 


415 


West  Indies,  Germans  in,  40;  room 
for  expansion  in,  325 
Westinghouse  Company,  success 
of,  in  Latin  America,  315-316 
Wheelwright,  William,  American 
pioneer,  314 

Winter,  Nevin  0.,  quoted  on 
“effeteness”  of  Latin  America, 
22;  on  use  of  American  ma- 
chinery in  Latin  America,  318; 
on  Latin-American  hotels,  319 
Women,  protection  of,  in  indus- 
tries, 101-102;  position  of,  in 
Latin  America,  279-281;  South- 
ern European  antecedents  of 
Latin-American,  282;  effect  on, 
of  example  set  by  American 
women,  283;  legal  status  of, 
283-285;  modem  ideas  affect- 
ing status  of,  285-286;  voting 
by,  286-287;  social  factors  in 
movement  for  improving  status 
of,  289-290;  education  of,  290- 
292;  vocational  training  for, 
292-293;  attraction  of  teaching 
profession  for,  296-298;  and 
eradication  of  social  evils,  301- 
302;  child-welfare  work  of, 


302-304;  greater  freedom  now 
permitted  to,  in  the  larger 
cities,  304-305 

Wool,  production  of,  53 

Yankee,  use  of  term,  as  applied  to 
people  of  United  States,  333- 
337 

Yankee  peril,  Latin-American  ap- 
prehensions regarding,  138-140 

Yellow  fever,  prevention  of,  in 
Cuba,  213;  in  ports  of  Brazil 
and  of  West  Coast,  214;  cam- 
paign against,  in  Guayaquil, 
Ecuador,  237 

Y.  M.  C.  A.,  athletics  encouraged 
by,  212;  solid  foundation  of,  in 
Latin  America,  221-222;  ab- 
sence of  political  motives  from, 
222 

Y.  W.  C.  A.,  221-222;  value  of 
work  of,  to  Latin-American 
girls  and  women,  304 

Zahm,  J.  A.,  quoted  on  Uruguay, 
18;  on  Germans  in  Brazil,  41- 
42;  on  Andr6s  Bello,  278 


MY  17  ^ 

